By Cole Boehler
Credible studies conducted and published by both the American Medical Association and the Century Council, an industry funded not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking, indicate the great majority of alcohol illegally obtained by youth –65 percent of it in the Century Council research–comes from adult family members and friends, while only seven percent is obtained from retailers who fail to check IDs.
Yet almost all efforts targeting interdiction have focused on stopping retail sales. This apparent imbalance has been addressed by few police departments and public agencies tasked with reducing the flow of alcohol to the under-aged.
However, the Great Falls Police Department, Cascade County Sheriff's Department and military police from nearby Malmstrom Air Force Base have adopted a new tactic as part of their interdiction strategy: bust the adult "bootleggers" who are buying alcohol for youth.
At the end of October last year, under the supervision of local police, a decoy youth approached adults in the parking lots of Great Falls convenience stores and, after admitting they were underage, asked the adults to buy them alcohol.
According to Great Falls Police Officer and Underage Drinking Task Force Coordinator Greg Pretat, four of the 10 who were approached agreed to buy for the youth.
interestingly, two who did so were subsequently charged with minor in possession, driving under the influence and possessing a fake identification. Another had also solicited sexual favors from the decoy in exchange for procuring alcohol, Pretat said.
Others who agreed to buy for the youth were issued warnings, Pretat said, noting that when retail stings began years ago, clerks were also initially issued warnings before enforcement efforts began resulting in citations. He acknowledged the "bootlegger stings" took some heat from some quarters for not immediately hammering buyers with citations.
"We're in a learning curve," Pretat said, noting the first phase of such a campaign should be educational in nature. Once the public becomes aware of law enforcement intent, he said, adults who buy for youth can be expected to be charged with unlawful transaction with a child, an offense that carries a maximum fine of $500 and potentially six months in jail, and will carry the onus of unwanted publicity in local newspapers.
John Hayes, executive secretary of the Cascade County Tavern Association, applauded the new approach to stopping youth access to alcohol.
"Too much of the effort was being directed at a relatively small part of the problem," he said. "I'm all for it ("shoulder tap" stings). I think it' great. I'm delighted to see this innovative approach being used to target the by-far biggest source of illegal alcohol obtained by youth–adults who willingly provide it."
Pretat and his counterparts in the sheriff's department and Air Force are operating with a three-year $950,000 federal grant administered through the state Board of Crime Control.
Pretat is quick to point out that alcohol compliance checks targeting retailers, and now adult "bootleggers," are required under the terms of the grant, but other measures are also being implemented, among them creating alternative activities for the under-aged, lecture programs, advertising campaigns, server training programs, special police "party patrols" and tavern walk-throughs.
Pretat said in most cases of minor in possession (MIP), police are attempting to track down the source of the illicit alcohol, even looking for receipts. If it is an adult, citations will be issued, he said.
He also said law enforcement is on the lookout for fake IDs, and a couple of years ago actually cracked a counterfeiting ring that extended across the state. Curiously, Pretat says possessing a fake ID is no crime, but attempting to use one is and can be charged as a felony tampering with public records offense.
The grants have secured some additional equipment for police agencies, too, including breath test kits and digital cameras for patrol cars and hand-held units used during raids. The grant also pays Pretat's salary as the full-time program coordinator and for a half-time administrator at the state.
Pretat admits that this first go-round of stinging adult suppliers is just a beginning, acknowledging that more such operations on a larger scale would be required before solid data can be derived that would illuminate the scope of the "bootlegging" problem.
[i]Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Feb., 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.[/i