Davis Liquor Retailers Pass Under Age Decoy Sting By Davis Police Department

DAVIS- As part of a project with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s (ABC) Education and Teen Alcohol Enforcement Program Grant, the Davis Police Department (DPD) conducted a Minor Decoy operation in an attempt to identify clerks willing to sell alcohol to minors on February 26.

Minor decoys, under the direct supervision of officers, entered eight retail ABC licensed establishments and attempted to purchase alcohol from the store clerk. As a result, all of the establishments visited were diligent in their efforts to curb the access of alcohol to minors and denied the sale.

According to their press release, if a clerk had sold to the minor, that clerk would face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC would take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business. That may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.

DPD is conducting the compliance checks 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 have been conducted by local law enforcement throughout the state since the 1980’s. When the program first began, the violation rate of retail establishments selling to minors was as high as 40 to 50 percent. When conducted on a routine basis, the rate has dropped in some cities as low as 10 percent or even below.

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.

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