VAN NUYS : Ruling Barring Decoys at Liquor Stores Assailed
Community representatives and politicians gathered at Van Nuys City Hall Monday 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 90, a group of homeowners and businesses in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.
Taylor said that the decision will “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, with 1,000 cases based on such sting operations during a recent 12-month period. But last Thursday, a state Court of Appeal ruled 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.
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