Prepare To Pay Up To $1,000 Fine If You Get Caught Public Drinking During Pride Parade

By Jon Graef in News on Jun 14, 2014 8:00PM

Suddenly, the prospect of the Westboro Baptist Church protest doesn't seem so bad. What on earth could make a potential Pride Parade attendee utter such an insanity? The prospect of paying up to an $1,000 fine for drinking in public, that's what.

Last year, the City Council’s Public Safety committee approved a plan put forth by Mayor Rahm Emanuel which doubles the maximum fine and adds six months of jail time to offenders who fail to show up at court or don’t pay fines for violations. That means up to $1,000 for drinking in public.

Per DNAinfo, the police want you to know they'll be watching.

Cmdr. Elias Voulgaris, who heads the Town Hall police district, said officers will be targeting public drinking along the parade route and at Pride concerts.

"It's important for everybody to know that those caught drinking on the public way will be given a citation," Voulgaris said, "and because it's in the vicinity of the parade, it's a $1,000 [maximum] fine."

...

Voulgaris promised his officers would target the parade route, which will run from Montrose Avenue to Diversey Avenue along Broadway and Halsted Street, on June 29.

They will also be on the lookout for public drinking at Pride concerts near Waveland Avenue on June 21-22. Jennifer Hudson, Mya and Kaci Battaglia are slated to perform.

So if you plan on drinking in the public way during the Pride Parade, make it count. Don’t drink the cheap shit.