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| 20 March 2002 Spring Break Operation Targets Parents And Other Adults Who Give Alcohol To Minors SAN DIEGO, CA – Law enforcement officials are forewarning parents and other adults. Give booze to a minor and they will be caught. For the next two weeks, covering the Spring Break period for high school and college students, law enforcement agencies throughout San Diego County, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the College Law Enforcement Task Force will be working together to crack down on home parties, a common setting where minors drink. During this time, officers, deputies, and investigators from over 10 agencies will also be conducting DUI checkpoints, compliance checks, as well as shoulder tap and minor decoy operations. Known as Operation Safeguard, the goal of the enforcement campaign is to reduce underage drinking and youth access to alcohol. This year’s operation kicked off with a motorcade of patrol cars, used to show regional collaboration. “We know it is adults who are giving alcohol to minors and we’re going after them,” said Vince Jimno, coordinator of Operation Safeguard. “We know this because kids tell us all the time and previous operations have confirmed it.” During last year’s Operation Safeguard, which lasted nearly two months, law enforcement agencies conducted over 500 operations, resulting in over 200 arrests and citations, 83 of those for providing alcohol to a minor. “Minors consuming alcohol is everyone’s responsibility,” said San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano, who together with other law enforcement representatives, public health advocates, parents and youth, gathered at Mission Beach, an area where a lot of underage drinking takes place. “Adults should know better. That’s not acceptable behavior. How are we supposed to keep alcohol away from kids when there are so many adults willing to provide it for them?” “Alcohol is present in all community college, four year college, and university settings. Alcohol disrupts lives causing academic failure, alcohol poisoning, domestic violence, violent crimes, drunk-driving consequences, and even death. Alcohol affects all students’ lives,” said Larry Barnett, Director of Public Safety at USD, and co-chair of the College Law Enforcement Task Force . “ Both law enforcement agencies and campus leaders have a role and responsibility in implementing effective strategies to address underage and binge drinking. By working collaboratively the best interests of the campus, community, and enforcement agencies will be served and lives will be saved.” This is the third time law enforcement agencies join efforts on a countywide level to reduce underage drinking. Operation Safeguard took place in August of 2000 and again during Spring Break last year. Statistics show that one third of 6th and 9th graders get alcohol from their own homes; and many teens cite other people’s homes as the most common setting for youth consumption of alcohol. Anyone caught giving alcohol to a minor will be arrested. If found guilty, they could be fined up to $1,000 dollars and be required to complete 24 hours of community service. “Nothing good can come from it,” said Joan Stein, Chief of Juvenile Division at the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. “Giving alcohol to a minor will lead to criminal sanctions or worse, the loss of a loved one.” In the last two years, 29 people under 21 in San Diego County had alcohol in their system at the time of death. Also, half of all teen suicides and rapes involve alcohol. It is against the law for young people to drink; yet almost 10 percent of the nation’s 113 million drinkers are underage. These are the results of minors having easy access to alcohol. That’s why San Diego County parents, college students, and other youth are really happy to see law enforcement agencies increasing their efforts to reduce underage drinking. “Unfortunately it is very easy for students to get alcohol,” said Karen Larang, a member of the San Diego Youth Council. Larang believes “some parents think they are raising their children to do ‘the right thing’ and not drink”, but she believes parents would be shocked it they knew what their kids are really doing. Patty Drieslein, chair of the Social Availability Committee of the Policy Panel on Youth Access to Alcohol, said it’s time to stop blaming teens. “Whenever a young person drinks, an adult is involved in some way, whether it be an older friend or sibling, a parent or a stranger,” said Drieslein. “Underage drinking is an adult problem. Let’s stop putting all the blame on young people and start holding adult providers legally responsible.” Law enforcement agencies and community organizations will also be distributing public information brochures outlining underage drinking laws and warning adults about the penalties for providing alcohol to minors. “It is encouraging to see the collaboration in San Diego County between both local law enforcement agencies (Sheriff’s, SDPD, and other municipalities) and the community. San Diego is a model for the rest of the state,” said Manuel Espinoza, Director of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control “Operation Safeguard is an example of how true regional partnership between the public safety and public health sectors of the community can successfully reduce the seemingly intransigent problem of underage drinking.” |
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