Folsom Police Officers conducted a program called a Decoy Shoulder Tap Operation on June 3, 2014. This operation can lead to the arrest of adults who purchase alcohol for people under 21 years old. Under the program, a minor under the direct supervision of a peace officer will stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask patrons to buy them alcohol. The minor indicates in some way he or she is underage and cannot purchase the alcohol.
If the adults purchase alcohol for the minor, officers then arrest and cite them for furnishing alcohol to the minor. The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1000 fine and 24 hours of community service. The operation resulted in two arrests, Harrison Anderson (24) and James Ligon (53).
The program is intended to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. According to the American Medical Association, underage drinking can increase chances of risky sexual behavior and teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, compromise health, and result in unintentional injury and death.
Folsom Police Department’s involvement in this operation was funded by a unique community partnership, the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG). The SPF-SIG is a state-funded grant to reduce excessive drinking among 12- to 25-year-olds by focusing on environmental-level strategies. Twelve communities, including the city of Folsom, were selected to be part of the SPF-SIG project in California. SPF-SIG grant activities and projects will be conducted over the next three years through a partnership of the County of Sacramento, Department of Behavioral Health Services, the Sacramento County Office of Education, the Folsom Police Department, the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, and People Reaching Out.
Minor Decoy operations are one strategy in a comprehensive effort to reduce minor access to and consumption of alcohol. Folsom Police officers will also be conducting “Party Patrols”, seeking out large gatherings where minors are consuming alcohol in both homes and public areas such as parks and remote parking lots and conducting undercover operations in area bars and restaurants where alcoholic beverages are served.
