PITTSBURGH -- Team 4 went bar-hopping for a hidden-camera investigation to expose just how prevalent the practice of serving VIPs -- visibly intoxicated persons -- is.

Investigative reporter Jim Parsons went undercover to see if bartenders were shutting off customers who showed visible signs of having one too many. But we didn't see that -- not once.

Video:Watch Parsons' Report

Below is a transcript of Parsons' report.

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This is Carson Street on a Friday night. The South Side thoroughfare is transformed into a churning sea of bar-hoppers, many of them showing visible signs of being intoxicated.

Bruce Kraus, Pittsburgh City Councilman: "We literally have dozens and dozens and dozens of publicly inebriated people on the street."

Kraus: "The people that are here -- that are visibly intoxicated -- are getting behind the wheel of a car. And guess what? They're driving through your neighborhood."

Whether it's on the South Side or anywhere else in Pennsylvania, bartenders are forbidden by law from serving visibly intoxicated persons.

The state Liquor Control Board says signs of a VIP include loud speech, slurred speech, drinking too fast, falling asleep and stumbling. So we decided to go bar-hopping and have a Channel 4 Action News staff member exhibit all these behaviors. We wanted to see if we could find even one bartender who would say, "You've had enough."

Photographer TJ Haught wasn't getting video on this night. He was in it. At the first bar, TJ drank three beers in 20 minutes and appeared to be falling asleep while in full view of the bartenders.

He ordered another before his last beer was finished and, holding two bottles, started to nod off again when he dropped one of his beers. He stooped down, picked it up off the floor, told the bartender, "I'm OK," and took a final swig from the bottle.

Then, he took a seat at the bar and repeatedly dozed off again while the bartenders served drinks in front of him. Then, TJ ordered yet another and the bartender complied.

It was the same at three other bars -- TJ yelling "wooooo" and dozing and slurring his speech so that bartenders had to ask him twice what he wanted.

Parsons to TJ: "Wake up, wake up dude," with bartender watching.

At one tavern, he even fell off the barstool right onto the floor. The bartender saw it and called out, "Fumble! Man, you have to be really sober to do that," and then he served TJ another beer.

But here's the question. What if TJ told the bartenders that he doesn't intend to get behind the wheel of a car tonight?

Larry Barnett, PLCB trainer: "Doesn't matter. If he's visibly intoxicated, the fine is $1,000 to $5,000."

Barnett is a former bar owner who now is certified by the state LCB to train other bar owners and their employees about how and when to shut somebody off, and it has nothing to do with whether a person is legally intoxicated.

Barnett: "Visibly intoxicated. The bartender doesn't have to know if they're legally intoxicated, because they can't give any of the tests to determine that."

Barnett: "If I'm serving you, it's not up to me to know that you are at 0.12 (percent blood alcohol content). What is up to me to know is when you start acting a little wacky. Then, I don't give you any more."

But a spokesman for tavern owners says many bartenders will serve a VIP if they claim they're not driving.

Joe Pintola, PA Tavern Association: "The VIP -- most bartenders don't even realize that. It's all about driving. If you're not driving, you can go ahead and get drunk."

And that's a violation of the law, but it rarely gets cited by the Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement unit.

In the past two and a half years, the Pittsburgh LCE squad has only issued 14 citations for serving VIPs. That's for a six-county area with more than 4,000 licensed establishments. The unit is supposed to have 32 officers, but a hiring freeze has the contingent down to 22.

Parsons: "You have 22 officers covering 4,200 licensed establishments in a six-county area. Can they possibly do an effective job at taking care of all the problems?"

State Police Sgt. John Kean: "I think we do an effective job. We investigate every complaint that we get."

They investigate complaints and they sometimes send minors into bars to see if they'll get served, but LCE agents don't do what Team 4 did -- send in an agent who acts visibly intoxicated and then try to get served.

Kean: "We're not out to trick a licensee, to goad them into something that he or she might not normally do."

Parsons: "But wait a minute. You do that when you send minors in, though."

Kean: "But minors are going to walk in off the street anyway."

So, if state police won't send officers into bars to act like VIPs, what about the police officers already there enforcing the law?

Throughout the city, Pittsburgh police officers work bar details. Usually, they stay outside, but at this bar, we found the officer inside while TJ was drinking. Should he be watching for bartenders serving VIPs?

Kraus: "I think it's up to the officer's discretion to choose to do that."

Kraus says the real solution lies with the state hiring more LCE agents and allowing them to do what Team 4 did.

Kraus: "Do we need more LCE agents in there, perhaps as decoys for visibly intoxicated? Absolutely."

Kraus has asked the PLCB to fill those 10 vacant enforcement positions in western Pennsylvania. The agency has not yet answered Kraus' request.

There is something you can do if you see a bartender serving a visibly intoxicated patron. Call the state police Liquor Control Enforcement hotline at 800-932-0602. State police say they investigate every complaint and all of your personal information is kept confidential.

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