City of Lake Forest Awarded Grant from Department of Alcohol Beverage Control

Thu Nov 20, 2:19 PM

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Lake Forest was awarded a grant from the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC), in the amount of $11,536.00. This grant is to help the City of Lake Forest reduce underage drinking and other alcohol related crimes.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), the contract law enforcement agency for the City of Lake Forest, is conducting “minor decoy” and “shoulder tap” operations at several of the 180 ABC licensed establishments in the city. The operations started in October and will continue through June of 2009.

OCSD is utilizing their Explorer program for the minors needed to conduct such operations. The Explorers are personally selected due to their young looking appearance. To stretch the amount of the award provided by ABC, the City of Lake Forest is also utilizing the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Reserve program. With the help of these additional Deputies, it allows us to conduct twice as many operations.

The Explorers receive training from ABC and have Deputies personally assigned to ensure their safety. In a “shoulder tap” operation, the minors are instructed to make it clear to the adult that they are underage. Once the alcohol is given to the minor, the suspect is arrested. In a “minor decoy” operation, the minors attempt to purchase alcohol from owners, managers, and employees of licensed establishments. Once an adult serves or allows the minor to purchase alcohol, the subject is arrested and a report is forwarded to ABC for follow up investigation regarding the establishment’s license. A copy of the report is also forwarded to the Orange County District’s Attorney’s office for prosecution.

LFPS has conducted two operations to date and the following are the results:

Total number of arrests: 10
Total number of adult contacts: 33
Total number of establishments visited: 16

If you have any further questions regarding the grant or the undercover operations, please contact Administrative Deputy R. Nelson at (949) 461-3545.

Orange County Sheriff's Department
Administrative Deputy R. Nelson, 949-461-3545