Alcohol Stings by Police: Rules?

[Yogurt]

@constanze

Then the TV crew went to the police and asked them “why don’t you do some undercover stings like this more often and punish the stores who don’t ask severely?” and the police replied “well, if we use real minors, there would be a legal problem, and their parents might protest”, at which point I thought "are you guys stupid? There are enough 18 year olds around that look 16 years, send them in and if they aren’t asked, the store is fined, because they should ask everybody who looks that young, end of story". Apparently, the police and lawmakers aren’t in a hurry to make sale of alcohol to teens difficult.

Bolding Mine.

In my jurisdiction the crime is selling the alcohol to the person under the age of 21, not failure to check their ID, and it is a strict liability offense. Thus, if the person was 21, but looked 12 and they still sold it to him/her, no crime has been committed. Thus the police are smarter than your idea.

[BlakeTyner]

Posting just in case anyone is interested in the kid’s perspective.

This is an essay submitted to me for a freshman English essay assignment:

Student Name Redacted

Mr. Tyner

English-1301

September 27, 2009

   As Captain of the Marshall Police Department, my uncle, Redacted, asked if I would volunteer to do Synar. Synar is going undercover for a local police department and buying tobacco products. To volunteer, you must be between the ages of thirteen and seventeen.      

  Sgt. Benoit, the officer in charge, comes to pick me up. Also, there is one more person involved. It is a volunteer of the opposite sex and a different age, Ayden.

  Once everyone is gathered, we travel to the county appointed. Normally, the county is a bit out of the way, like Marion or Upshur County. The ride is a lot of fun. This is where we get to know one another and have a good time.

  As we get closer to the county, Ayden and I discuss who goes first, which decides the order of an alternation. Reading road signs that tell how close we are makes me somewhat nervous. Little country stores are not as bad as big truck stops where there are plenty of people.

  We have come to our first stop. I am lucky number one. Sgt. Benoit has to be in the store at all times just in case something were to happen. He just acts like a normal guy buying gum or a drink. He is not in uniform. Ayden will either go with him or stay in the car. We park where the clerks cannot see all of us get in or out of the car together. I walk in and go straight to the line at the counter. My heart races as I finally reach the front of the line and ask, "May I have Marlboro Menthol 100's please?"

   The old lady looks at me like I am insane and asks for my age. I tell her my true age, 16. She rudely implies that I am too young to buy cigarettes. So, I go back to the car and wait on Sgt. Benoit and Ayden to return. Once they get back, we fill out a paper that asks what store, what volunteer, what time, and whether or not we got a buy. Then, we are off to the next store.

  This is Aydens turn, but this store is a drive-in beer cave. We decided to play things up a little. Sgt. Benoit is going to hide in the back of his S.U.V. that we are in. I am going to sit in the front seat, and Ayden will drive through the drive- thru. We pull up to the window, and the young lady asks, "Can I help you?"

  Ayden asked for a can of Copenhagen. The lady asked if he has his I.D. with him, and he started looking for it in the car. I looked at him and said, "Baby, did you leave it on the dresser?"

  Ayden replied, "I guess so."

  The lady said, "Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it." She sold us the Copenhagen! I was so excited. It is a bad thing when we get a buy, but it makes you feel better for what you have worked for.

  These are just a couple of examples of the awesome times we shared together, not to mention what good we are doing for our community. Going undercover gave me confidence that I was doing something to help teenagers my age. If teens cannot buy tobacco then they would not be able to use it.

[iamthewalrus_3]

@CookingWithGas

Yeah, but still, it’s not illegal to lie unless you’re under oath.

Even if not illegal, it may be policy because it works often enough and it simplifies prosecution. The only two options for the clerk are “didn’t ask” and “asked, then sold it anyway”. Neither one offers even the slightest cover.

[Cyberhwk]

@purplehorseshoe

There is a third option. It’s rarely comes up, for reasons that will soon be clear to you, dear reader.

What happened in our store - and this really belongs in the “What did you just do, you moron?!?” thread - is that the clerk at our store *did *ask for the girl’s ID.

He took her ID, looked at it … and then … oh, Og … he still sold her the beer. Apparently, she was real purty and blonde and cute.

:smack: all around!

Not as rare as you may think. That’s how a friend of mine got busted for dealing cards to an underage kid. He said he knew they LOOKED young, but he just watched them get IDed by our security guard so he didn’t think anything of it. Couple of minutes later a woman comes in and throws open a notebook on his table. He said he knew the second she sat down.

He was pretty worried since he was almost done getting his teaching degree. Wouldn’t look good on his record letting a minor gamble. Security guard lost his job though. And he rightfully DID eventually get a teaching position without problem.