“Sobering Center” Gets Mixed Response

By Erica Williams
Staff Writer

June 30 -- A plan to significantly free up public safety and emergency health resources by providing a place for public drunks in Santa Monica “to sleep it off” was hailed by business leaders but blasted by area residents last week.

Presented to the Chamber of Commerce’s Public Safety Committee by Fire Capt. Bruce Davis Thursday, the proposal would establish a “sobering center” at the CLARE Foundation, a licensed substance abuse treatment center at 911 Pico Boulevard.

Modeled on a successful program in Santa Barbara, the center -- which would act as a way station for 6 to 10 people nightly who are dropped off by police and paramedics for public intoxication -- would save the City significant dollars, supporters contend.

According to a report Davis presented, apprehending, detaining and supervising chronic drunks cost the City’s police, fire, paramedic and hospital agencies a combined $2.9 million last year.

“We have not found anything that’s really a drawback,” Davis told the committee. “It’s a win-win situation.”

But Peter Tigler, vice chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association, worried that those picked up for public drunkenness, many of whom he said typically have outstanding warrants, could simply walk away before the recommended minimum 6-hour stay was up.

“I don’t see how this is a win for residents at all,” Tigler said, citing past problems at CLARE, which has operated in Santa Monica for 32 years. “It’s more of a drunk tank than a sobering center. To me this is a tributary to a revolving door.”

The so-called “chronic public inebriates” would be given the option of being arrested or dropped off at the sobering center for at least six hours and up to eight to dry out, according to Davis.

They would get water, a blanket and a mat, and be supervised by two staffers by day and one at night. They would also be offered counseling, referrals and be invited back for further treatment.

“It’s a fabulous system,” said Davis, citing a 25-percent “return rate” for CPI's in Santa Barbara who go back to the sobering center for treatment.

One significant benefit of the center, according to the report, is that local emergency rooms would be freed from “the steady stream of public drunks needing to detoxify, so ER beds and medical services can be better directed toward true health emergencies.”

Davis, who described himself as “like a ramrod” on the effort, is championing the collaboration between CLARE, the City, the fire and police departments and Saint John’s Health Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.

But Tigler and Pico resident Kathryn Morea worried that those who left before completely sobering up would then be loose in their neighborhood, disappearing down a myriad of alley ways or into someone’s backyard before police could respond.

“This is being proposed on a residential street,” said Morea, who added that residents didn’t learn about the proposal and the meeting until that day. She noted that there was a liquor store across the street from CLARE and asked what forum residents would have to address their concerns.

“How can you think about putting 70 people a week who are criminals in my neighborhood… without talking to (residents) about it?” Morea asked.

Davis tried to assure Morea and Tigler that the program would work, having proven to be safe and effective in cities such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Albuquerque, as well as in nearby Santa Barbara and Escondido. Police would be called if someone left the center prematurely, Davis said.

“The police do not respond to these kinds of calls,” Tigler contended, referring to calls about a public nuisance or drunkenness. He suggested locating the sobering center in the soon-to-be-vacated police headquarters near Downtown “where the problem is.”

Asked if residents’ concerns amounted to a “not in my backyard” attitude, Tigler responded that Pico has been a “repository” for the City’s social programs.

“We do our share,” he said. “The City uses Pico as a dumping ground.”

City leaders are enthused about the program, Davis said, with news of it “moving like wildfire” through City Hall. In fact, Saint John’s Health Center has already donated $20,000 of the $189,000 needed to make the center a reality, Davis said.

Asked how long it would take to get the program started, Davis replied, “If we had the money today, we’d be up and running in a month.”

That alarmed Tigler and Morea who subsequently learned that the City’s projected start date for the program was December 2004.

The prospect of huge savings in time and money across the board for police, paramedics, hospitals and the courts is what’s appealing, Davis said.

For instance, two officers who currently spend 3 to 5 hours booking someone into jail for public drunkenness would spend an average of 10 minutes processing the inebriate into the sobering center, freeing the officers to spend more time out on the streets, Davis said.

According to the report Davis presented, Santa Monica police spent $1.6 million last year responding to 3,106 alcohol-related calls that resulted in 1,220 people booked on charges of being “drunk in public.” Those arrest costs translated to about $1,300 per person per incident.

The fire department spent $406,000 last year responding to 963 alcohol-related calls that resulted in 241 transports and tied up paramedics for nearly 2,000 hours. Public drunks taken to local hospitals typically tie up ER beds and resources for 5 to 6 hours and generally stiff the hospital for its fees.