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Thousands of beer and other beverage cans line the bottom of the Clackamas River east of Oregon City.

(Clackamas County Sheriff's Office)

The Clackamas County commissioners unanimously passed an ordinance Thursday night to allow police and other county officials to look in coolers and bags alcohol at county parks.

The ordinance allows some flexibility in how Clackamas County Sheriff's deputies can require the people with alcohol to get rid of it. However, if someone does not want police to perform a visual inspection, that person must leave the park.

The commissioners also banned glass at county parks.

The new rules do not apply to parks owned by the North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District.

Several people spoke against the new ordinance, saying it violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires a warrant to do so. However, the turnout was much lower than county officials expected. The hearing room was only half filled.

The commissioners said the ordinance is necessary, though, for public safety and to protect the waterway, which provides drinking water for much of the Portland area.

“We intend to keep the river blue and cool,” Commissioner Tootie Smith said.

Commissioners started discussing beefing up enforcement of the county parks' ban on alcohol to address the rampant littering, drunken behavior and fighting along the Clackamas River.

As many as 5,000 visitors, many who float the river, crowd Barton Park near Damascus on a busy day. Carver Park also features direct access to the river. With a paid permit, alcohol is allowed in the park.

But that doesn’t stop thousands of people to cart booze with them to float the river, then deposit the cans and bottles at the bottom of the river along their way.

Volunteers who clean the river at the end of each summer season say they annually pull out tons of litter from the river.

Drunken people on the river also drown, or have near misses, frequently. In 2007, drunken reveling turned into a riot and two dozen police came to calm thousands of people at the two parks. After that, the county board banned alcohol in the parks.

Despite five signs announcing the ban in Barton Park alone, people routinely ignore the rule.

Earlier this summer, the commissioners authorized the sheriff’s office to allocate $45,000 to add additional officer patrols at parks to enforce the rule.

The commissioners are planning to look into ways to reduce littering next year and a possible paid permitting system to float the river.

“It’s time to let our families back on that river where they can enjoy the water and the river safely,” Commissioner Martha Schrader, an avid kayaker, said Thursday night.

-- Molly Harbarger