SANTA MONICA—On May 8, the Santa Monica Police Department disclosed that a clerk at a local establishment was cited for selling alcohol to minors.
Detectives of the SMPD conducted a Minor Decoy Operation on May 7. A minor, under the direct supervision of department detectives, attempted to purchase alcohol from nine retail licensees in Santa Monica. A retail clerk at Bristol Farms, located at 3105 Wilshire Blvd., was cited for selling alcohol to the minor.
Clerks who sell to minors face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC will take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business where alcohol was sold to a minor. That may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.
ABC is conducting the compliance checks statewide to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under the age of 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the general adult population.
“Minor Decoy operations hold accountable those who sell alcohol to minors,” ABC Director Joseph McCullough said. “Keeping alcohol away from youth is a priority.”
Minor Decoy operations have been conducted by local law enforcement since the 1980s in California. When the program first started, the violation rate of retail establishments selling to minors was between 40 to 50 percent.
When conducted on a routine basis, the rate has decrease in some cities to 10 percent or even lower. In 1994, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that use of underage decoys is a valid tool of law enforcement to ensure that licensees are complying with the law.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
ABC encourages licensees to sign up for ABC’s Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD) training free of charge. Licensees and their employees can take the training online. They can also sign up for training in person in a classroom setting.
ABC is a Department of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. To discover more details about ABC enforcement and prevent programs visit the Enforcement programs and Prevention programs tab on their website.
By Danny Jones