Sheriff to Target Liquor Sales to Minors
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is launching a covert operation in the Ojai Valley it hopes will be a complete failure.
The Undercover Decoy Program, which runs through the end of this year, will test sales clerks on how carefully they screen minors who try to buy alcoholic beverages.
Decoy customers who are 18 or 19 years old will attempt to buy beer, wine or liquor from licensed establishments, according to Sheriff’s Capt. James Barrett. They will not lie about their ages, or try to use false identification.
“The success of the program is measured by how many employees refuse to sell to the decoy, not by how many sales are made,” Barrett said in a written statement.
If a minor succeeds in buying the alcohol, the clerk will be cited to appear in court, and the state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control may take action against the vendor’s liquor license, the release said. The decoys will be under constant supervision of a sheriff’s deputy.
Affected businesses will receive explanatory letters from the Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control before the program begins, according to the release.
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