CITY OF EASTVALE
Inland Empire – The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded a $98,315.00 grant from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) for 2014-2015. The grant will help fund operations for a number of programs to battle alcohol-related crime, combat underage drinking, and educate licensees about alcoholic beverage laws. The grant will cover those cities serviced by the Jurupa Valley Station, Perris Station, and Thermal Station. Those cities include Canyon Lake, Coachella, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Menifee, Norco, and Perris.
The grants strengthen local law enforcement efforts by combining the efforts of local police officers and ABC agents. ABC agents have expertise in alcoholic beverage laws and can help communities reduce alcohol-related problems.
The Grant Assistance Program was created in 1995 to strengthen partnerships between ABC and local law enforcement agencies. The program is designed to put bad operators out of business, keep alcohol away from minors and bring penalties such as fines, suspensions or revocations against businesses that violate laws.
The funds will be used to reduce the number of alcoholic beverage sales to minors and obviously intoxicated patrons, the illegal solicitations of alcohol and other criminal activities such as the sale and possession of illegal drugs.
Officers in each city will battle alcohol-related crime by conducting Minor Decoy and Shoulder Tap Decoy operations, Trapdoor operations, Informed Merchants Preventing Alcohol-Related Crime Tendency (IMPACT), and classes for licensees and their employees that are taught through ABC’s Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD) program.
- Minor Decoy operations are compliance checks in which teenagers, under the direct supervision of police officers, attempt to purchase alcohol from retail ABC licensees.
- The Shoulder Tap program targets adults who purchase alcohol for minors on or around ABC licensed businesses. Minor decoys, under the direct supervision of police officers, approach and ask patrons of stores, bars or restaurants to buy them alcohol.
- Trapdoor Operations involve officers, local ABC agents, and alcohol retailers working together to reduce underage access to alcohol by halting the use of false or stolen identifications.
- The IMPACT program is to reduce alcohol related crime in and around ABC licensed premises through inspections.
- The LEAD program provides practical information on serving alcoholic beverages safely and responsibly. It also helps teach methods of preventing illegal activity at ABC licensed establishments.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department looks forward to working with the California Alcoholic Beverage Control on this grant.
