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| 13 December 2000 - The East County Californian Shoulder tap operation targets teen alcohol sales SANTEE – They are both underage and on a mission. "Excuse me. I am not 21 and I was wondering if you would buy me some beer?" they say to every other customer that approaches the liquor or convenience store they're standing by. The 15 and 17 year-old high school students appear to be the typical teenager "fishing" for some liquor. They are not. They are "fishing," but not for booze. In fact, they are not even alone. They are decoys working with officers from the Santee Sheriff's Office and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control looking for adults willing to purchase alcohol for a minor. The newly elected mayor of Santee, Randy Voepel, also rode along. "It's against the law," said Deputy Tom Sadler, explaining the reason behind the Santee Sheriffs Office decision to conduct its first shoulder tap operation. "We'll do anything we can do to keep alcohol out of minors' hands." On Oct. 30, the Santee Sheriff's Office, together with Communities Against Substance Abuse, other law enforcement agencies in East County, community and business leaders, launched "Operation Stop 'N Bust," an initiative aimed at adults who provide alcohol to minors. For the launching of the operation, groups of middle and high school students in Santee and El Cajon visited over 40 liquor stores asking owners to display posters warning adults that it is against the law to furnish alcohol to anyone under 21. At that time, the Santee Sheriffs Office also announced it would be conducting shoulder tap operations. During the four-hour operation, the two underage decoys visited nine liquor stores – from a randomly selected list of 19 – and approached over 20 customers hoping to score a sale. The students stood in front of the liquor stores for 15 to 20 minutes and randomly asked people if they would buy them alcohol. Almost everyone said "NO." "They gave us dirty looks. They told us they were going to call the cops," said one of the decoys, adding that adult "fishing" is the way some students get their alcohol. "A lot of people do it. It's a common thing." A recent survey of California students revealed that 40% of 7th graders, 69% of 9th and 81% of 11th graders consider that alcohol is very easy or fairly easy to get. Another survey, conducted at a local East County high school showed that 40% of students get alcohol from parties where parents were present, from older friends (58%) and 30% get if from strangers. Instead of calling the cops or getting them the beer, some customers reported the minors to the liquor store owners. Four of the nine businesses targeted chased the students away. However, two of the 23 people solicited said, "YES." The first purchase came at the beginning of the operation from a transient who agreed to buy the alcohol for the minors only if they went to a different store across the street. After getting them a six pack of beer, he motioned the students to go to the back of the building where he would give it to them. Fearing the safety of the decoys, a team of officers went to the back of the store. The homeless man saw the officers and the liquor exchange did not take place. The teens were trained not to go to back of buildings, into alleys or people's cars. The man was not arrested, though he admitted having purchased the alcohol for minors, on this and other occasions. The second purchase took place at the last liquor store visited. The Escondido resident was immediately arrested and given a citation for providing alcohol to a minor. "I've never done this before," said José Hernández in Spanish, explaining that he did not know it was illegal and that the decoy did not tell him he was underage. "I was just doing them a favor." If found guilty, Hernández could face up to a $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service. Article Snapshot (46K) |
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