Two establishments fail compliance checks

Summer Crosby

On December 30th, the Valley Grocery in Alberton and Four Aces Bar in Superior failed compliance checks when they sold alcohol to minors working as informants for the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office and Mineral County Healthy Community Projects—the two organizations that conducted the checks.

At Valley Grocery, the clerk sold alcohol to the minor without even looking at the boy’s identification and at Four Aces Bar the clerk looked at the minor’s identification, yet proceeded to sell him alcohol.

Back in July 2009, the groups ran the same compliance checks and saw a 42 percent failure rate compared to December 30th 8 percent failure rate. The checks are conducted at both off-premise locations, such as Valley Grocery and on-premise locations like Four Aces. Robbie Smith, prevention specialist in Mineral County, said she was very impressed with how things turned out.

“I was glad to see that a lot of places checked for I.D.s,” she said. “It’s very important to stop minor’s access to alcohol and an important step in curbing the problem of underage drinking.”

The evening began at 4 p.m. inside the sheriff’s office. The two minors are brought in from outside the county and photographed beforehand. The groups formed two teams made up of the informant, a witness that goes inside with the informant and a squad car with two cops should anything happen. Team 1 started in Alberton, while Team 2 began out on the West End. The minors go around to all of the establishments and attempt to purchase alcohol. The witness also goes inside to observe the transaction, while deputies wait outside. If there is a sale, the deputy photographs and logs the evidence. The informants use their own licenses and are not out to trick or deceive the establishments in anyway. Letters were mailed beforehand to all of the business telling them that compliance checks were going to be conducted, but an exact date is not given.

Sergeant Bill Pandis also followed along to back up the two teams should either of them need any extra help. He said that underage drinking in Mineral County is a big problem. He said that part of this might be because of the smaller school systems, explaining that the friend base for an individual is relatively small and many students are friends with those who have access to alcohol. He also said part of the problem is that drinking has become an “accepted pastime” because many have the idea that there’s nothing else to do in the county.

Pandis is very passionate about curbing the problem of underage drinking and part of this stems from a call he answered back in 2005. Up in the woods, teenagers were drinking and two of the kids got into a fight and one was stabbed to death.

“I was the first one on-scene and I’ll never forget going to the hospital that night and seeing what I saw,” he said, referring to the kid’s paleness and wounds. “Whether alcohol was a factor or not it was up there. I don’t know what it takes to stop it, but a lot of people don’t seem phased by alcohol-related tragedies. I don’t have the answer, but there’s no excuse for an establishment to sell alcohol to minors. No excuse.”

During the evening, Denyse Traeder was impressed when O-Aces in DeBorgia took the informant’s license away. Smith called it “awesome.” In Responsible Alcohol Services and Sales (RASS) classes, she teaches that an establishment who comes across the identification of the minor has the right to seize it as it is essentially property of the state. The idea then is that the establishment will contact the cops. The classes are not mandatory however. Also happening during the night, Traeder observed that different establishments were calling each other and saying that they had minors inside their building attempting to purchase alcohol. Whether the establishments had figured out compliance checks were taking place or they were just simply alerting other owners about the minors is unknown. S & S Foods called the sheriff’s office after they turned away an informant trying to purchase alcohol.

The two clerks that did sell alcohol to the informants received citations and will also have to appear in court before a judge. After four citations, the liquor license of the establishment can be suspended.

“We don’t do these checks to write people tickets and we’re trying to put them out of business,” Pandis said. “We’re not out to trick them or get them. We just want them to be aware of the age of individuals they’re selling alcohol to and to know that minors aren’t allowed to purchase alcoholic drinks. We don’t want them selling alcohol to those that are underage. We’re trying to keep people safe.”

Smith, as well as Pandis, mentioned that parents need to be more accountable for their children and be more in control of what they’re doing. Pandis said that sometimes parents will think that it’s okay for their children to drink as long as they’re doing it at home, when in reality it’s not.

“We have alcoholics who are 15, 16, 17 years of age. People don’t think you can become addicted to it, but you do. People don’t take accountability for their actions. They don’t think that things associated with alcohol—DUI deaths and homicides—can happen to them.”

Overall, Smith, as well as Pandis, were glad to see things go better this time around compared to July’s checks.