Brockton Pushing To Close City Bars Earlier
BROCKTON (CBS) - Do bars close too late in Brockton? Some city officials say yes.
Brockton's police chief and a number of city officials would like to see a change in the licensing of city bars, shutting everything down about an hour earlier.
The new policy would not allow anyone to enter a bar after 1 a.m. Last call would be 1:30 a.m. and entertainment would end at 1:45 a.m.
While many bar owners are concerned this will hurt their business, others like Brockton City Councilor Tom Brophy say the fact that surrounding towns all close their bars earlier (most at 1 a.m.) means Brockton, which now closes at 2 a.m., gets a last minute rush of outsiders.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports.
Podcast
"Because there are people who are rushing to Brockton before the 2 o'clock closing, so we are seeing an increase in people coming to the city and causing problems," said Brophy. "There have been times when there have been incidents at barrooms where the entire police force on call at that time have had to go to establishments basically to stop the trouble that's there, and that leaves the populous in Brockton at risk."
The licensing board, which listened to public comment Wednesday night, has not made a decision yet.
