Cops conduct ‘Decoy Shoulder Tap Program’ throughout state
Cops conduct ‘Decoy Shoulder Tap Program’ throughout state
California highways have been recently littered with billboards advertising DontServeTeens.gov, a government campaign aimed at discouraging underage drinking and reminiscent of prohibition era propaganda.
The campaign operates under the the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Steve Hardy, a former cop, city councilman and Democrat from Vacaville, CA earns $142,965 annually as Director of the agency. The ABC is a department of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which is under the direction of Secretary Dale E Bonner, a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Both men were appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who told Oui magazine in 1977 that he used “grass and hash – no hard drugs. But the point is, that I do what I feel like doing. I’m not on a health kick.”
The ABC regularly boasts about conducting decoy operations in which they use teenagers to trick witless adults into buying booze for minors. Officially known as “The Decoy Shoulder Tap Program”, the state website touts it’s operational details: “it holds accountable those adults who purchase alcohol for people less than 21 years of age. Under the program, a minor under the direct supervision of a peace officer will stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask patrons to buy them alcohol. The minor indicates in some way he or she is underage and cannot purchase the alcohol. If the adults purchase the alcohol for the minor, the peace officers arrest and cite them for furnishing alcohol to the minor. The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.”
They go on to explain that consumption of alcohol by minors increases criminal conduct, risky sexual behavior and compromises health. In a San Luis Obispo operation this summer, “twenty-nine adults were contacted by a minor decoy and three agreed to illegally buy alcohol for the minor decoy”.
They also target retail eastablishments. In a recent sting in Compton, over 20 per cent of business contacted sold liquor to minors: “Minors attempted to purchase alcohol from 46 retail licensees in the city of Compton. Those who sell to a minor face a minimum fine of $250 and/or 24-32 hours of community service.” 10 out of the 46 were cited in that decoy operation.
Thirty-one adults said not to shoulder tap decoys in Pismo Beach in April, pleasing the ABC with their ‘compliance’.
$350,000 from a federal grant, or “Federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Grant” to be more precise, was awarded to fund sting operations such as the one at a Cinco de Mayo celebration in a Sacramento park. the agency explains, “Focused on alcohol related problems at fairs, festivals and sporting events… ABC investigators will work will local law enforcement throughout the state to help make large events safer and more fun”. Their report goes on to detail how the ABC collaborates with colleges, youth organizations and community-based organizations.
Furnishing alcohol to a minor is violation of section 25658(A) of the CA Business and Professions Code. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor violates section 272 of the CA penal code. The ABC indexes a list of their operations and license revokals.
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