Department of Public Safety Hosts Conference to Combat Underage Drinking
JEFFERSON CITY, Wednesday June 25, 2008—Director of Public Safety Mark James addressed the group of 85 police, sheriffs, State Water Patrol and State Highway Patrol officers from around the state at the 2008 Law Enforcement Training Conference held in Jefferson City today.
“Underage drinking can lead to a host of serious problems including homicide, suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, violent crime and date rape,” James said "It is encouraging to see so many law enforcement officials gathered together in an effort to learn the latest methods to reduce the number of underage drinkers in Missouri."
The three day conference offers a combination of classroom training and real word experience to educate participants on a number of underage drinking enforcement strategies. According to the 2006 Missouri Student Survey commissioned jointly by the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and the Department of Mental Health, thirty day alcohol use among 12-17 year old Missouri youth is higher than the national average.
Last night the class participants and 14 Alcohol and Tobacco agents went out in six teams to local communities in Cole, Boone, Osage, Calloway, Miller, and Camden Counties to conduct compliance checks. A compliance check involves an underage buyer and a law enforcement team testing retailers’ compliance with underage drinking laws. If an establishment or convenience store sells to a minor they are fined. If they are continually caught violating the underage drinking laws they could face penalties as harsh as shutting down the business. The teams checked 54 establishments with 18 locations selling to a minor.
The conference is funded using Enforcement of Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) grants appropriated by Congress, and are awarded to states by the U.S. Department of Justice through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). In Missouri, the Department of Public Safety is the designated state agency to receive and administer EUDL funding. In order to boost the effectiveness of these grant funds the Department of Public Safety is providing recipient agencies with this nationally recognized field training on proven methods in combating underage drinking.
Under the current administration, Missouri's laws against underage drinking have been strengthened by changing penalties to address both the possession and consumption of alcohol by minors. While a standard “minor in possession” still exists for those who are in possession of alcohol, recently passed laws also allow a minor to be charged with a "minor in possession" if they are visibly intoxicated or have a blood alcohol content of more than .02.