Arrests of Indoor Clean Air Act Violators up at Eden Center in Falls Church

Clarification: Police did not detain the individuals who were cited for smoking in a non-designated area, they were just given $25 citations. In the City of Falls Church police reports, they list these cited people as being arrested.

Since Jan. 1, 21 people have been arrested in the City of Falls Church for smoking in an undesignated area.

All of those arrests were made in one place, the , a Vietnamese- American shopping center, said City of Falls Church Police Deputy Chief Mary Gavin. The Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, which prohibits people from smoking in a restaurant and restrooms inside the restaurant, went into affect Dec. 1, 2009. According to police reports, the first arrests for smoking in a non-designated area within city limits came weeks after the law went into affect in 2010. In that year there were 28 violators, Gavin said.

“We have received a number of complaints from the Eden Center,” Gavin said. “Some people don’t listen to the verbal warnings and some of the store owners are calling the police on those who are violating the rule.”

Gavin said city police verbally warned storeowners about allowing people to smoke inside their establishments. Funds from the $25 fines given to people in violation of the law go into the city’s general fund which helps cover city expenses, Gavin said. Violators and storeowners of the establishments where the offense occurred are fines and must also go before a judge, she said.

The hallways inside the Saigon East shopping center inside the Eden Center were quiet Thursday afternoon but smelled of smoke. Clouds of cigarette smoke billowed into the hallways dimming what light shined from outside and neon lights from the stores. Groups of men and women inside small eateries played card games, drank and smoked cigarettes.

Nguyen Nguyen, manager of the Quan Em Café, said he does not allow smoking inside his eatery like some of the other eateries. He said the law is a good one that will allow people to enjoy their time inside the shopping center. He said he smokes cigarettes but goes outside to do so.

“I’ve never gotten a ticket for smoking inside,” Nguyen said. “When the police come around and see someone smoking, they give out tickets. That’s a good thing.”

Quang Phu Van, a lector of Vietnamese Language and Literature at Yale University in Connecticut, said some of the business owners may not like the law, but they must abide by it. In Vietnam, he said, many people use cigarettes as an icebreaker to spark conversation. He said there are a high percentage of people who smoke in Vietnam and there aren’t any laws against smoking there. Coffee shops in Vietnam, like the ones at the Eden Center, are often filled with people drinking the hot beverage and smoking cigarettes.

“It’s difficult to break the habit for a lot of people from Vietnam,” Van said. “And I’m not sure they understand the law.”

Gavin said officers do routine patrols around the Eden Center just as they patrol other areas of the city. At times, storeowners in compliance with the law will call the police on other businesses in violation, she said. Police will continue to give tickets for the violation as long as people break the law.

“Sometimes the businesses are proactive and they’ll call us to tell us people are smoking inside some of the businesses,” Gavin said. “If the owner’s letting them smoke, that’s a violation.”