Washington smoking ban may get more 'user friendly'

The Washington police chief said he hopes a proposed amendment to the Smoke Free Washington Ordinance will clear some of the haze surrounding enforcement of the statewide smoking ban.

In an effort to make the ordinance more user friendly, Police Chief Jim Kuchenbecker said he would like police to have the power to issue a ticket with a fine payable at City Hall or issue an order for an administrative proceeding with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Though Washington police have not issued any tickets for smoking violations since the statewide ban went into effect nearly 18 months ago, violators within the city of Washington would have to appear in Tazewell County Court in Pekin under the current city ordinance.

“We’re just trying to make it more user friendly,” Kuchenbecker said. “We wanted to tweak a few things and make it more in line with the state law.

“Right now, if we were to write somebody a ticket for smoking in a public place, that person would have to go to go to court. This (amendment) would allow us to issue a notice of violation, like we do for many city ordinances, like curfew.”

The city council is expected to vote on the amendment July 6. However, Kuchenbecker said his officers would not become “the cigarette police.”

“This would not be put in place so we can step up enforcement efforts,” he said. “We will not turn our backs if we observe a violation. But we’ve only had complaints of smoking in a couple of bars and taverns, and we’ve addressed that by reaching out to the bar owners.”

Kuchenbecker also proposed an amendment to the city’s liquor code, which would give the liquor commissioner and the police “unobstructed, unhindered and immediate” access to all areas of licensed liquor establishments during business hours “and/or any time the premises, outdoor areas and/or special areas are occupied.”

Kuchenbecker said police have been denied access to areas of licensed liquor establishments when trying to enforce city code.

“We had a couple of cases previously where there have been people in the establishment right at closing time when everybody is supposed to be out except employees, and they won’t open the door for us because they believe we can’t be in there.”

The ordinance, as it is written now, states that the liquor commissioner can authorize police to access licensed liquor establishments.

“Some people were interpreting it that we had to have contact with the liquor commissioner when we want to go in somewhere,” he said. “This would make it very clear that we can go in when we want and we don’t have to get permission.”

But Kuchenbecker said this amendment would not mean that police would step up enforcement. Its purpose is to clear up any confusion bar owners and employees may have had about the liquor code, he said.

“It doesn’t do much but solidify what we’re already doing,” he said.

The city council is expected also to vote on this amendment at its July 6 meeting.