Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement

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Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement: Introduction

Strategies and Approaches to Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement

What Communities Can Do

What Parents Can Do

What Agencies Can Do

What Schools Can Do

Strategies & Approaches › Improve Law Enforcement › Enforce Alcohol Restrictions in Public Locations

Enforce Alcohol Restrictions in Public Locations

Many communities have special events that seem to encourage widespread, heavy drinking. Partly due to the large number of people present, and the failure of event planners to create specific "over 21 only" areas, underage people may have little difficulty getting alcohol through third party purchases and drinking it unnoticed at these events. In some cases, supervising adults both expect and tolerate underage drinking. Law enforcement should enforce special-event permits for events where alcohol will be available thus assuring the events meet state licensing requirements and that servers are trained in responsible beverage service.

Public facilities, such as parks and beaches, may be “hot spots” for underage drinking parties in some communities. Limiting access to these locations and enforcing prohibitions against alcohol consumption in public facilities can help prevent these parties. Useful ordinances are those that establish the hours of operation for public parks and beaches and prohibit alcohol use in these areas. Most community or State-maintained areas have closing hours, after which the public is prohibited from being on the premises. Some of these areas also prohibit alcohol consumption. Unfortunately, these rules often are not actively enforced. A strengthened enforcement effort in these areas is a useful strategy for controlling underage drinking parties.

Issue

The State or County fair allows easy access to alcohol for underage youth.

Strategy

Work with fair organizers and your local law enforcement agency to strengthen their enforcement efforts. Limit the number of locations on the fair grounds where alcohol can be purchased. Setting up a separate beer garden allows you to limit where alcohol is purchased and consumed. Provide training to staff on positive ID practices. Make sure nonalcoholic alternatives are available. Work with organizers to place prevention messages in strategic locations.

For additional strategies and approaches for improving the effectiveness of law enforcement, see the following:

What You Can Do: Community
What You Can Do: Parents
What You Can Do: Agencies
What You Can Do: Schools

References:
Underage Drinking Prevention Action Guide and Planner. 2001. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Available at: http://media.shs.net/prevline/pdfs/phd858.pdf#search=%22underage%20drinking%20prevention%20action%20guide%20and%20planner%22. Accessed on [08/25/06]

Underage Drinking Prevention Action Guide and Planner. 2001. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Available at: http://media.shs.net/prevline/pdfs/phd858.pdf#search=%22underage%20drinking%20prevention%20action%20guide%20and%20planner%22. Accessed on [08/25/06]

A Guide to Zero Tolerance and Graduated Licensing: Two Strategies that Work. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Available at: http://www.udetc.org/documents/Guide2zero.pdf#search=%22a%20guide%20to%20zero%20tolerance%20and%20graduated%20licensing%22. Accessed on [09/06/06]

California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Develops an Innovative Liquor Law Enforcement Program—TRACE—to Enforce Underage Drinking Laws. Successful Innovations: News from the Field. Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. Jan. 2005. http://www.udetc.org/success_stories/CA0105.pdf. [Accessed on 08/02/06]

Bonnie, R.J. & M.E. O’Connell (eds). 2003. Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.

Johnson, K.D. Underage Drinking: Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Services. U.S. Dept. of Justice. Available at: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/PDFs/underage.pdf#search=%22statistics%20on%20alcohol%20free%20events%20and%20underage%20drinking%22. Accessed on [09/01/06]

Shoulder Tap Program. 2003. Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Available at: http://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/Shoulder_tap.html. Accessed on [09/06/06]

Saturation Patrols and Sobriety Checkpoints. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/SobrietyCheck/. Accessed on [09/06/06]

A Practical Guide to Preventing and Dispersing Underage Drinking Parties. 2005. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation: Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center.

Underage Drinking in California: California Town Hall Meetings. Community Prevention Institute. March, 2006.

Facts for Teens: Teens and Alcohol. National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center. 2002. http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/alcohol.asp. Accessed on [07/28/06]

Youth and Underage Drinking: An Overview. US Department of Health and Human Services. http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/RPO990/. [Accessed on 08/01/06]

Spear, L.P. Alcohol’s Effects on Adolescents. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 2003.