In The NewsLaw Enforcement Looks At Options To Fight Underage Drinking
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Author: Emily DupuisJOHNSTON - Law enforcement officers and others from across the state - including representatives from Westerly - came together last week to share their triumphs and challenges in the fight against underage drinking.
Westerly was among 14 Rhode Island police departments that participated in a two-hour underage drinking prevention meeting.
On the table: what has been effective, and what more could be done to crack down on underage drinking and illicit drug use.
The participating communities are all recipients of three-year federal substance abuse prevention grants after being identified as having the greatest need.
Police Capt. Mark Wright, Westerly's sole representative at the meeting, said, "I think we're ahead of the curve."
He said most of the law enforcement and substance abuse task force initiatives described Wednesday are already in place in Westerly. Wright said the town also benefits from local licensing and juvenile hearing boards, and a strong relationship between police and the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force.
Police in participating communities have taken steps including launching party patrols, increasing liquor store surveillance, upping license checks on servers and initiating education and media campaigns.
Of the enforcement actions detailed at the meeting, Westerly does not conduct shoulder taps, or have decoy youths ask adults entering a liquor establishment to buy alcohol for them. Wright said that could be an idea worth considering.
Some of the departments represented said they have had trouble recruiting youths to serve as decoys, while others described difficulties convicting individuals under the state's social host statute.
"We have relatively no problem at all getting 18-year-olds to be decoys," Wright said. He added that the department has an overall conviction rate of 90 percent, and that includes alcohol-related arrests.
Pawtucket police said they have accessed youths' MySpace and Facebook online social networking pages and used their posted photographs of underage drinking as evidence. Newport police said they have photographed youths at the parties to detail the atmosphere for the court.
Most of the participating towns have established tip lines to anonymously report underage drinking parties and liquor stores or restaurants that sell to minors. Westerly's number is (401) 3486141.
Wright said party patrol officers in unmarked cars have videotaped youths carrying cases of beer into parties. Then, under the community care-taking statute, they have entered the homes without search warrants.
He said the patrol also made close to 100 alcoholrelated arrests this past summer at the beaches.
Brenda M. Amodei, program director of the Rhode Island Training and Technical Assistance resource center, said officers must dispel a belief among youths that if they are caught drinking at a party they will be sent on their way and their names will not be recorded.
The resource center provides training and assistance to the 14 grant recipient communities.
Amodei also recommended the police departments establish written guidelines and treat each incident uniformly.
Westerly has a zero-tolerance policy and brings every youth caught drinking to the police station. It is then up to the department's juvenile prosecutor to press charges, Wright told the group.
The Tri-Town Community Action Agency of North Providence, Smithfield and Johnston hosted Wednesday's meeting, also attended by task force officials from communities including Middletown, Providence, Barrington and West Warwick.