By Carl Golden

I’ve never been a Bruce Springsteen fan. I don’t own any of his albums or CDs and attended one of his concerts at Giants Stadium in the mid-80′s, mostly to see what the attraction was.

I don’t much care for his lefty politics, either, but he, like everyone else, has a right to hold them and express them.

My music major is 50s and 60s doo-wop (the finest stuff ever put on vinyl) with a minor in country as performed by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.

My iPod, however, does have a Springsteen number — “Jersey Girl” recorded live in 1981 at the Meadowlands Arena.

It occupies space on my iPod because I am married to a subject of the song title — a full-blooded, Italian girl born and raised in Orange, a quintessential Jersey girl.

As Springsteen growls “tonight I’m gonna take that ride across the river to the Jersey side,” and works his way through his expression of love for his “Jersey girl,” it never fails to stir memories of people, places and events in the nearly 60 years I’ve lived here.

Now that I’ve made clear that my Springsteen fandom consists of one song and I’m not a “Bruce-right-or-wrong” type, I’m comfortable weighing in on his arrest last November for driving while intoxicated in the Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook.

If the rather scant accounts that have emerged thus far are, indeed, accurate, the early morning episode has set up written all over it.

Springsteen, according to reports, stopped while on a motorcycle run and accepted a shot of tequila from a fan while park rangers watched from a distance.

Once he began to drive off, the rangers flagged him down and ticketed him for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.

Despite a park ranger’s account that Springsteen smelled of alcohol and flunked field tests, his blood alcohol content registered .02. In New Jersey, .08 is the presumptive level for intoxication.

You do the math.

It’s virtually certain that the rangers recognized Springsteen (he’s an easily recognizable guy) and concluded that a celebrity bust would draw some attention.

There will be suspicion also in some pro-Springsteen quarters that the singer’s outspoken criticism of political figures played a role in the officers’ actions.

Unfair, perhaps, since no evidence has surfaced thus far to suggest it did but in today’s hyper-politicized environment, speculation doesn’t always respect boundaries or logic.

It isn’t the first time police officers parked near bars and clubs waiting for patrons to leave only to pull them to the curb a block or so away and administer field tests.

Sobriety checkpoints are common, even though critics have complained the random nature of the stops violate the “probable cause” requirement.

There is no dispute that anyone driving under the influence of alcohol, whether on a motorcycle or in a motor vehicle, should be punished. The dangers such actions pose must be minimized by strict law enforcement. Death, serious injuries and shattered lives cannot be tolerated.

A court will eventually decide the outcome of Springsteen’s arrest unless, of course, an accommodation is reached and the matter settled.

The .02 blood alcohol reading, if accurate, will be difficult to move past in Springsteen’s case. His alcohol consumption — one or two shots of tequila, according to reports — appears to have been confirmed, but whether the circumstances justified a driving while intoxicated charge is problematic.

The officers involved will lay out their version of events in support of their decision and may well be called upon to respond to questions concerning their motives; i.e. whether the celebrity of the defendant or his political leanings played a role.

It’s unclear at this stage when the matter will reach a court but it is certain to draw more than the usual amount of attention normally paid to a municipal court proceeding.

In the meantime, I’ll consider drafting a petition to “Free the Colts Neck 1,” while relaxing in my recliner, affixing my earbuds and listen to “Jersey Girl.”

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University.