Liquor Sales Decoy Ban Is Criticized

Community representatives gathered on Monday in front of the branch City Hall in Van Nuys to protest a court decision barring police from using underage decoys to catch liquor outlets selling to minors.

Calling decoy sting operations the most effective means of fighting alcohol sales to minors, the protesters called for a constitutional amendment to overturn the state appellate court ruling.

Decoys are “a tool that scares the living hell out of liquor store owners,” said Fred Taylor, president of Focus 90s, a group of homeowners and businesses in the northeast San Fernando Valley. The decision is “going to make us step back eight or 10 years in terms of our ability to tackle this problem.”

Underage decoys have been used for eight years by law enforcement agencies throughout California. But a state Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the state Constitution bars alcohol sales to anyone under 21, including minors acting at the direction of police.

The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control may appeal the ruling. Carl Falletta, acting assistant director with the department, said when authorities begin using decoys in a certain area, 80% to 90% of the stores and taverns are found to be selling to minors. Six months after police begin using decoys, that rate typically drops to 50%, he said. “That indicates to me that there’s a deterrent.”

In the year that ended in June, more than 1,000 cases based on decoy sting operations were filed statewide, Falletta said. In the previous fiscal year, more than 2,000 such cases were filed.

Among the groups protesting the ruling Monday were the Van Nuys Homeowners Assn., the Los Angeles County and San Fernando Valley Alcohol Policy Coalitions and the California Women’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies. Joining them were representatives of Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City) and Los Angeles City Council members Hal Bernson, Joy Picus and Marvin Braude.

Katz said he plans to discuss legal options including administrative rulings, legislation or constitutional amendments for overturning the appellate court ruling with the legislative counsel and the attorney general’s office. “We need to give ABC the tools they need to get liquor stores and bars to stop selling to minors,” he said.

Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys homeowners group, said the court decision was particularly troubling for Van Nuys and Pacoima, which have high concentrations of retail liquor outlets.

Decoy tactics have also helped curb gang activity and drunk driving in those areas, Taylor said.

Angela Goldberg, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Alcohol Policy Coalition, said the only alternative to decoys is police waiting outside a store or bar, possibly for several hours, in the hope of catching an illegal sale.

“With decoys, you’re looking at a very cost-effective system,” she said. “There’s no other real way to do it.”