Full Notification

The Santa Maria Police Department is happy to announce that we were selected to receive $47,000.00 in grant money from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) founded by the Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety administration. The money will be used to conduct Shoulder Tap Operations, Minor Decoy Operations, and IMPACT Inspections within the city. There will also be two LEAD (License Education on Alcohol and Drugs) training for ABC Establishment. The grant runs from July 2017 through June 2018.

On Thursday, 08/31/2017, the Santa Maria Police Department and agents from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) conducted a "Minor Decoy" operation throughout the City of Santa Maria. The program is designed to reduce youth access to alcoholic beverages. These type of operations are conducted by local law enforcement throughout the state.

During the "Minor Decoy" operation a minor decoy, under the age of 21, attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages under the direct supervision of SMPD undercover officers. The decoy entered two “off-sale establishments” (liquor stores) and one “on-sale establishment" (bar). The on-sale establishment, Chido Bar, furnished an alcoholic beverage to the sixteen year old minor decoy. The minor decoy was sent to the bar due to an anonymous tip received by the SMPD that alcohol was being served to minors. The public is encouraged to continue providing tips and know that we will respond to the tips.

Two bar employees were contacted and cited for furnishing an alcoholic beverage to a minor.
The penalty for furnishing alcohol to a minor is a minimum $1000 fine and 24 hours of community service. The program is intended to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors. The business may face administrative actions by ABC as well.

During the operation two others subjects were also contacted in front of liquor stores and were cited for consumption of an alcoholic beverage in a private place that is opened to the public.

This program is intended to reduce the availability of alcoholic beverages to minors; statistics show that teens have a greater rate of drunken driving crashes than adults.

Funding for these programs was provided by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control through the Department’s Grant Assistance Program (GAP), and some were funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For further questions regarding the upcoming “LEAD” training which is scheduled for October 10, 2017, please contact: Officer Ricky Arias at 928-3781 x 1187.

Prepared by Sgt. Eligio Lara