Perhaps youthful memories of high school parties motivates some strangers to agree to buy teenagers alcohol when they’re asked. But being a “cool” grown-up resulted in the arrest of four people as part of a state-wide crackdown on underage drinking.
As a penalty, the adults are given a minimum $1,000 fine and 24 hours of community service, sheriff’s Lt. Glenn Giannantonio said.
Deputies worked alongside California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents to conduct an enforcement operation locally from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday in Encinitas, he said. Law enforcement officers call these shoulder tap operations because the teenagers who are working with officers, sometimes tap strangers on the shoulder, offer them some money and ask them if they would please buy them some beer. The teenagers clearly state to the stranger that they cannot buy the alcohol themselves because they are underage, Giannantonio said.
The purpose of the operations is to deter adults from furnishing alcohol to minors. Underage drinking can increase chances of risky sexual behavior, teen pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, and can result in unintentional death or injury, according to the American Medical Association.
More than 90 law enforcement agencies across the state took part Friday in their own communities making it the largest shoulder tap detail conducted in the state, Giannantonio said. The ABC and the California Office of Traffic Safety funded many of the local operations.
