On May 27, the Davis Police Department conducted a decoy operation in an attempt to identify clerks willing to sell alcohol to minors. 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, the minors were able to purchase alcohol at two of the 10 establishments visited. Clerks at the other stores asked for identification and properly denied the purchase.
Police identified the stores as the Olive Drive Market and Fast and Easy Mart on B Street.
The clerks who sold to the minors face a minimum fine of $250, and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service for a first violation. In addition, ABC could take administrative action against the alcoholic beverage license of the business. This may include a fine, a suspension of the license, or the permanent revocation of the license.
The Davis Police Department 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 1980s. 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.
This project is part of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Education and Teen Alcohol Enforcement Program Grant, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.