2011 Safe and Sober Graduation Operation NA11131cj

WHAT:
Safe and Sober Graduation Operation

WHEN:
Friday, June 10, 2011 through Sunday June 12, 2011

WHERE:
All Los Angeles Unified School District locations
Los Angeles, CA 90017

WHY:
The LAPD, in conjunction with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) will initiate the 13th annual Safe & Sober Graduation Operation during the month of June 2011, to curtail the accessibility of alcoholic beverages and promote “Safe and Sober” graduations throughout the 91 Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) high schools.  Between June 1 and June 30, 2011, an estimated 27,000 students will graduate from LAUSD high schools.  Based on past events, it is anticipated that many of these students will be celebrating this significant event in their young lives.  However, a number of them will be attempting to use alcoholic beverages as a means of enhancing their celebrations.  In an attempt to reduce the availability of alcoholic beverages to underage individuals and thereby save lives, vice units will be conducting a series of Minor Decoy and decoy Shoulder-Tap Programs coinciding with high school graduations in their respective areas.

Beginning June 1, 2011, local vice units will conduct Minor Decoy and decoy Shoulder-Tap Programs at licensed ABC locations in the proximity of LAUSD high schools.  On the weekend of June 10-12, 2011, these units will be on maximum deployment and focus specifically on alcohol-related crime issues involving underage minors attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages via the Minor Decoy and decoy Shoulder Tap Programs.  These operations are designed to prevent the accessibility of alcoholic beverages at two primary sources: licensed locations and the parking lots of these locations.  Surveys conducted by major universities indicate that approximately 75 percent of high school seniors have consumed an alcoholic beverage in the past six months.  Studies also indicate that 46 percent of these students will obtain the alcoholic beverage by soliciting adults outside of markets and liquor stores.

LAPD Detective Support and Vice Division (DSVD) is releasing this media advisory to warn those individuals who are likely to furnish alcoholic beverages to under age individuals that  LAPD and ABC will be conducting undercover operations and will aggressively prosecute those individuals who knowingly put alcohol in the hands of a minor.  Shoulder-Tap Operations, involve the soliciting of individuals outside of licensed ABC retail establishments to purchase an alcoholic beverage for a minor.  Last year’s 2010 Safe & Sober Graduation Operation resulted in the solicitation of 344 adults, with 40 violations.  Statistically, 88 percent of all adults approached refused the minor decoys’ request for alcohol.  Additionally, 364 licensed ABC locations within close proximity of local high schools and colleges were inspected via the Minor Decoy Program, which resulted in 50 clerks being cited for selling alcoholic beverages to underage individuals (representing an 86 percent compliance rate).  Individuals convicted of furnishing a minor with an alcoholic beverage face a mandatory $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service.

Subsequent decoy Shoulder-Tap operations will be scheduled throughout the summer on a citywide basis in order to curtail the accessibility of alcoholic beverages to minors and reduce alcohol-related crimes.

This project is part of the Department of ABC’s Minor Decoy/Shoulder-Tap Grant Project, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Safety Administration.  For additional information please contact Sergeants Lifernando Garcia or Steve Moore, Operation ABC, DSVD, at 213-486-0910.