Dickinson Conducts Alcohol Compliance Checks

Working with a plainclothes officer and two twenty-one year old youth entering businesses attempting to purchase alcohol with no identification on them. Out of the eight businesses visited, three businesses did not ask for identification and sold alcohol to the youth without any questions. The youth were young enough that they should have been asked for proper identification to make sure they were actually old enough to purchase liquor.

The Southwest Coalition of Safe Communities will continue to do these compliance checks over the next several months. In the future we will be using underage youth along with a plainclothes officer. Letters will go out to establishments visited informing them if they passed or failed the compliance check. Businesses failing the compliance check will also be forwarded on to the local authorities.

Illegal alcohol use by underage persons contributes to crime, car crashes, injuries, and deaths. Law enforcement officers find that alcohol also has a role in many of the more frequent minor crimes and nuisances that degrade the quality of life in our community. Many noise complaints, vandalism, lettering, and similar nuisances involve young people who have been drinking. Public health officials report that alcohol use and abuse is also connected with teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other health problems. We have learned that community and our youth are safer and healthier when they don't start using alcohol until after age 21. Providing alcohol to an underage person is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $2000 and up to one year in jail or both, plus a mandatory administrative fee of $300.

Please help us keep the next generation safe, keep alcohol out of the hands of our youth. Help keep our community a safe community.