Crime & Safety
26 Businesses Pass Underage Drinking Sting, Police Say
A police operation to check whether local businesses will sell liquor to minors rarely (if ever) has a 100 percent compliance rate.
FOREST GROVE, OR — In a rare showing of strict compliance to Oregon liquor laws, a recent decoy operation conducted by the Forest Grove Police Department to see which local businesses would furnish alcohol to a minor found not a single establishment interested in ignoring the state's legal drinking age.
The operation, which was conducted with help from the Hillsboro Police Department, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC), and the Washington County Department of Health and Human Services, took place Nov. 16 in Forest Grove.
Twenty-six businesses were checked to see if any employees would sell booze to a person under 21 years old, and 26 businesses said, "No," according to the FGPD spokesman Sgt. Mike Hall.
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"It is rare to have a 100 percent compliance rate," Hall told Patch in an email Tuesday. "I have no recollection of hearing of such a successful operation conducted by our department."
Minor decoy operations, paid for through county grants, are typically conducted four times per year, Hall said.
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"We were able to look back to 2014 and found no instances of 100 percent compliance," he said. "We hope that an operation as successful as this indicates that the outreach, education and enforcement by us and our partner organizations have a positive effect on reducing the accessibility of alcohol to minors in our community."
The following businesses were tested during the operation:
- 7-11
- Buffet Dynasty
- Godfather's Pizza
- Katz Billiards
- Rainbow Lanes
- Kama Aina
- Cornerstone Pub
- Diamond Palace
- Little Monkey Deli
- FG Sushi
- Prime Time
- Hello Market
- Kings Head
- Safeway
- Urban Decanter
- Plaid Pantry (Thatcher Road location)
- Waltz Brewing
- Forest Theater
- Circle Inn
- Pac Thai
- Mama Jiah's Market
- Ridgewalker Brewery
- Half Moon Sports Bar
- Grampy's Deli
- Jade Green Palace
- FG Liquor Store
For information on employee training programs and other questions related to OLCC laws and regulations, visit www.oregon.gov/OLCC.
Image: Free-Photos via Pixabay.com
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