Who We Are - Overview

1 March 2001
Operation Safeguard II
Two-Month Spring Break Operation Cracks Down on Parties, Adult Providers and Underage Drinkers
Alcohol Present in 61 Young Deaths in San Diego County

SAN DIEGO, CA – On July 5, 1999, a 19 year-old male placed his bottle of vodka on the sand and walked into the ocean. He drowned. On New Year’s Eve 1999, a 20 year-old female from New York visiting her cousin in San Diego went to sleep after partying and drinking all night. She never woke up. On March 30, 2000, 15 year-old Francisco Isais Jr. was drinking beer and vodka in a vacant lot. He then tried to cross the trolley tracks walking between two cars. He never made it across.

The circumstances behind these deaths were all different but they had two things in common: The victims were under 21 and had been drinking before they died. They were not old enough to legally drink, yet had a Blood Alcohol Content of .24, .40, and .17, respectively, at the time of their death. Where did they get the alcohol? Who gave it to them?

Law enforcement officers know and they’re going after them.

“It’s adults,” said San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano, “It’s adults who should know better and that’s not acceptable behavior.”

On March 1, Bejarano, together with San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender and representatives from more than 10 other law enforcement agencies, community-based coalitions of parents, students, public health professionals and elected officials, kicked off Operation Safeguard II, a law enforcement campaign aimed at combating underage drinking.

For the next two months, covering the entire Spring Break period for college and high school students, law enforcement agencies from throughout San Diego County will be conducting random DUI checkpoints, decoy and shoulder tap operations, compliance checks and party dispersals.

This is the second time law enforcement agencies join efforts on a countywide level to reduce underage drinking. The first Operation Safeguard took place in late August of 2000 and consisted of a 10-day campaign, leading up to Labor Day Weekend.

“We want to make sure that alcohol does not reach the hands of underage drinkers. There is zero tolerance in San Diego County for underage drinking," said Chula Vista Police Chief Rick Emerson, also President of the San Diego County Police Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Association. “There are too many deaths and losses associated with underage drinking,” added Emerson.

Francisco Isais Sr. knows that all too well. He still vividly remembers the evening phone call telling him his son was dead.

“I could not speak,” said the father. After learning there was alcohol involved in his son’s death, he wanted to find out who provided it. He contacted a lawyer but the case went nowhere. “I wanted them to pay for what they did. I don’t understand why anyone would give alcohol to a minor.”

Alcohol continues to be the number one drug of choice among teenagers and it’s taking its toll.

In the last two years, 61 people under 21 had alcohol in their system at the time of death, according to San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office. That number only includes the young people who died under special circumstances and required an autopsy. Therefore, the actual number of people under 21 who had been drinking prior to their death can be much higher.

Alcohol-related crashes are the leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24. That’s 42 people every week or six every day. Also, alcohol is a factor in over half of all teen suicides and rapes.

“Underage drinking continues to be the number one concern in the country. It’s absolutely imperative that we address this problem,” said Judy Walsh-Jackson, from the San Diego County Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program. “Our success will be measured in tragedies adverted and lives saved.”

The economic cost of underage drinking is also mounting. California leads the nation in underage drinking spending–car crashes, violence, suicides, etc.–costing state taxpayers $6.5 billion dollars per year. In the U.S., the total cost of alcohol use by youth exceeds $50 billion each year.

It is against the law for young people to drink; yet 10 of the nation’s 113 million drinkers are underage.

That is because young people have easy access to alcohol. “It’s not that hard. If I wanted alcohol, I could get it,” said Tony Dixon, a 16 year-old junior at El Cajon Valley High School and a member of East County’s Students Together Against Alcohol ’n Drugs (STAAND), a project of Communities Against Substance Abuse. “Kids get alcohol from an older brother or sister, from friends or even parents who don’t care that their children drink.”

Dixon and several other students and community representatives from throughout the county were present at the campaign kick off to show their support for stronger enforcement and adjudication of underage drinking laws.

“Youth repeatedly tell us that adults are the major source of their alcohol,” said Teddye Gentry, from the South Bay Partnership. “Adults should suffer the full consequences of their actions. The community supports Operation Safeguard II.”

Operation Safeguard II is a coordinated effort of the San Diego County Law Enforcement Task Force on Underage Drinking to reduce youth access and consumption of alcohol.