Drunk tank

Drunk tank

A drunk tank is a jail cell accommodating, customarily or as a temporary expedient, at least one person who is intoxicated, especially with alcohol.

Traditionally, and in some jurisdictions currently, the circumstances of drunk-tank occupants may vary widely, as to whether in fact intoxicated, whether willingly there, whether isolated to protect them from others, confined to protect others from them, or simply permitted to find shelter, and whether legally under arrest, charged with an offense, or neither.

See also