Brookhaven rolls back bar hours

Last call shifts to 2 a.m. citywide on April 10

Brookhaven, GA, March 30, 2018 – “Last call” at Brookhaven entertainment venues will soon happen an hour earlier.  Effective Tuesday, April 10, Brookhaven rolls back the hours for alcohol service from 3 a.m. to 2 a.m., like most nearby jurisdictions.

The Brookhaven City Council overhauled its alcohol ordinance last fall, after receiving an analysis of crime statistics from the Brookhaven Police Department.  Over a study period from Jan. 1 through July 23, 2017, Brookhaven Police ascertained that 10 late night establishments with alcohol licenses were associated with a disproportionately high number of police calls.  During this time, Brookhaven Police answered 884 calls for 337 incidents at these locations.  Of those, 68 percent occurred between midnight and 6 a.m.

“The reality is that Brookhaven Police are spending more time policing the areas around these bars in the wee morning hours than any other location at any other time,” said Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura.

Crime scene photos of an aggravated assault case which occurred May 13 at Medusa Lounge at 3375 Buford Highway.  During the altercation 30 shots were fired, three people were injured and several vehicles were struck by gunfire.  On Wednesday, March 28, the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted six members of the 135 Pirus gang on racketeering and other charges related to this event.

On September 26, the Brookhaven City Council responded by refining its alcohol ordinance and updating its license fee structure.  Under the new law, establishments with disc jockeys, dance floors or stages are classified as entertainment venues, and can pay up to $100,000 for alcohol licenses.  On October 10, 2017, the Brookhaven City Council followed that action by rolling back bar hours to 2 a.m., effective April 10.

“We want to achieve some sort of equity between these late-night entertainment venues that were draining police services and all of the other residents of Brookhaven that need police services,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst.  “Recalibrating our license fees brings us closer to that equity.  Rolling back the bar hours so we match our neighboring cities should reduce the crime element as well, so we can spread out our officers more evenly and spend more time on crime prevention.”

“Of course, there are a lot of DUI cases and nearly three-quarters are for people who don’t live in Brookhaven,” said Chief Yandura.  “But it’s worse than that. Some of those DUI’s resulted in fatalities.  We are also working shots fired, aggravated assault, entering auto, drug possession, robbery and a host of other crimes.” 

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