Students to Perform 'Stings' on Liquor Stores, Bars

NEWTON, MA - Things might not be what they seem in Newton. That sparsely whiskered kid trying to buy a six-pack of Budweiser could actually be working with the cops.

The Newton Police Department was awarded a $9,954 grant to perform “sting operations” on establishments with liquor licenses, police said.

Police are recruiting underage college students to order a drink at a bar or try to pick up alcohol at the liquor store, police said. The initiative will make sure local watering holes and retail stores aren’t letting alcohol get into the hands of minors.

“We’re really not trying to trick the licensed establishments we’re just trying to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” detective Paul Anastasia told Patch.

The undercover “operatives” will also lurk around liquor stores and try to get older people to buy them alcohol.

Newton police have received this grant for the past five years but this is only the second time they will use young people to do the deed. In the past the grant money has been used for other strategies such as surveillance.

Anastasia said the reason they haven’t used students as “spies” more often is because finding the best people for the job can be difficult.

“We don’t want a 20-year-old kid who looks 13 or an 18-year-old kid who looks 28. We want them to look like normal young people,” Anastasia said.

Local students are not the only ones who will be going undercover as part of the initiative. The “Cops in Shops” section of the grant program will have officers pretending to be liquor store clerks to swipe fake IDs.

Police will also be on the lookout for people who may be purchasing alcohol for underage friends, police said. Newton police will follow young people they see buying “five cases of beer or three bottles of rum,” Anastasia said. The police will often find themselves at a house party or car full of minors, according to Anastasia.

“We’re trying to prevent trouble that comes with underage drinking like car crashes, irresponsible sexual activity and fistfights,” Anastasia said.