Los Angeles: On October 20, 2014, the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control
(ABC) announced the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as a recipient of the 2014/2015 Grant Los Angeles Assistance Program. The $25,000 grant was presented to the LAPD for the purpose of Minor Decoy Operations, Shoulder Tap Operations and Informed Merchants Preventing Alcohol-Related Crime Tendency (IMPACT) inspections.
Minor Decoy operations are compliance checks in which teenagers, under the direct supervision of police officers, attempt to purchase alcohol from retail licensees. The Shoulder Tap program targets adults who purchase alcohol for minors on, or around ABC licensed businesses. Minor decoys, under the direct supervision of police officers, are also asked to approach store customers, patrons at bars or restaurants and ask that they buy them alcohol. The IMPACT program encompasses inspections of ABC licensed businesses.
As a result of the grant, personnel from LAPD’s Detective Support and Vice Division (DSVD), Operation ABC will conduct undercover operations and will aggressively prosecute those individuals who knowingly sell or furnish alcoholic beverages to those under the age of 21. Those convicted of furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor may face fines in excess of $1,000 and 24 hours of community service. LAPD officers will also educate alcohol retailers through the Standardized Training for Alcohol Retailers (S.T.A.R.) program.
This project is part of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Minor Decoy/Shoulder Tap Grant Project, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
For additional information please contact Sergeant Fernando Garcia or Sergeant Nick Nemecek, Operation ABC, DSVD, at 213-486-0910.