Berkeley Awarded $75K Grant To Fight Alcohol-Related Harm

BERKELEY, CA — The city of Berkeley will soon have a little more money to spend protecting its citizenry from the negative impacts of booze.

The Berkeley Police Department was awarded a $75,000 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to battle combat alcohol-related harm.

The BPD was among just under 50 law enforcement agencies selected to receive grant funding through the ABC’s Alcohol Policing Partnership (APP).

The funds will be used to reduce the number of alcoholic beverage sales to minors, obviously intoxicated patrons, illegal solicitations of alcohol, and other criminal activities such as the sale and possession of illegal drugs, city officials said.

“This is important to the City of Berkeley in order to increase protection for youth and to shut down problem locations that have contributed to an increase in crime,” Berkeley Police Chief Jennifer Louis said in a statement.

The grants strengthen local law enforcement efforts by combining the talents of local police officers and ABC agents who have expertise in alcoholic beverage laws and can help communities reduce alcohol-related harm, city officials said.

“The program can improve the quality of life in neighborhoods,” ABC Director Eric Hirata said in a statement.

“We’ve seen a real difference in the communities where the grant program resources have been invested.”

The APP program was created in 1995 to strengthen partnerships between ABC and local law enforcement agencies.

The program is designed to put bad operators out of business, keep alcohol away from minors and bring penalties such as fines, suspensions or revocations against businesses that violate the law and cause harm to the community.

The APP program has distributed millions to local law enforcement to combat alcohol-related harm.

ABC is a department of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency.