When a grown man encounters a teenage boy at a liquor store who asks if he can help buy him some booze, perhaps he thinks back to his own youth. He may remember fondly the times when he and his friends got a hold of a bottle of something, or a six pack of beer, and had a great party. He probably doesn’t think about all the young people who die in alcohol induced car wrecks, and who take their own lives or their young friends’, or victims in other cars. He probably doesn’t think about alcohol influenced sexual behavior that can result in teen pregnancy, STD’s or even sexual assault and rape. He probably doesn’t think about the stories of teenage binge drinking that can result in internal poisoning leading to death or serious illness, or accidents resulting from poor judgement, like falls from buildings or structures. He probably just thinks it would be cool to help a kid party and have a good time.
The Folsom Police, along with partners such as the California Alcoholic Beverage Control department, and California Office of Traffic Safety and others, hope that people will think more about the consequences of providing alcohol to minors. They have set up well publicized operations to catch people in the act, and hopefully prevent people from doing it in the future.
The Folsom Police Department announced the results of an operation that took place over last weekend that resulted in two arrests. A “Decoy Shoulder Tap Operation” involves the use of a minor under direct control and supervision of the police, who will stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask a passer-by if they will buy alcohol for him. The decoy communicates that he is under age and cannot buy it himself, and if the person agrees, he provides some cash for the purchase. Once the subject comes back out and hands over the liquor, the kid takes off, and the police take over. The person is arrested for furnishing alcohol to a minor, and faces the minimum sentence of a $1000.00 fine and 24 hours community service.
In the film American Graffiti, Toad (Charles Martin Smith) asks an adult to buy liquor for him. The man turns out to be an armed robber.
The way the operation is set up, the subject cannot simply agree to buy the alcohol and take the money. They could claim they were on their way to notify the police that the kid is up to no good. They are not arrested until they actually hand the booze over to the minor. Similar sting operations have minors attempt to buy the alcohol themselves, without any ID, and obviously underage. The Folsom Police also conduct “Party Patrols” on weekends to seek out gatherings at homes or public places, like parks or parking lots, to find potential underage drinking, and adults providing liquor or facilitating the partying.
The operation this weekend resulted in the arrest of two men. James Russell Ray, 45 of Folsom, and Bryan Eugene Skybert, 38 of neighboring Orangevale, who both bought liquor for the decoy. The fact that only two people were caught is a positive sign that the operation is increasing awareness of both the problem and the penalties of breaking the law.
Folsom is one of 12 California Communities that were selected to be part of the state funded Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant, an effort to reduce excessive drinking by 12 to 25-year olds through environmental-level strategies. The three year plan works with local police, county agencies and school districts, along with privately funded organizations, such as People Reaching Out, to focus on accomplishing their common goals.
