Alcoholic Beverage Control will do undercover checks of tasting rooms and bars over Memorial Day Weekend
California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) announced this week that it will have agents out “ensuring public safety through enforcement of alcoholic beverage laws” on Memorial Day weekend in communities throughout California. Agents working undercover in plain clothes will be visiting ABC-licensed businesses, including wineries, tasting rooms, and bars.
John Carr, an ABC information officer, wouldn’t confirm that agents will be in Sonoma County, but, given that this is the heart of wine country, it is possible. “We don’t divulge how many agents we’ll have in any particular place, just suffice it to say that our agents will be spread out throughout California. And we multiply our force with local law enforcement agencies. We award grants each year to local law enforcement agencies to assist ABC and to help with prevention and education.”
Carr said undercover agents will primarily be checking that alcohol isn’t being served to persons under 21 years old or to obviously intoxicated patrons, but will also be checking that establishments are adhering to their serving hours (i.e., that they’re not opening earlier or staying open later than their permits allow).
The ABC uses underage decoys to enforce drinking-age regulations. “We will send in people who are minors when we run decoy operations, but there are guidelines on how we run those operations. If a decoy is asked his or her age when they attempt to purchase alcohol, they have to identify themselves and be truthful about their age. It’s a compliance check, it’s not a gotcha. But when someone with a youthful appearance walks into a business and wants to purchase alcohol, we want to ensure that businesses are being vigilant about checking identification.”
How does the agency choose which businesses to investigate? “Complaints are certainly part of it,” Carr said, “but there are other times where we’ll just choose randomly. But like all organizations, we have finite resources, and given the size of this state and the number of municipalities that we have to cover, we do map out where we’re going to put our resources for maximum impact.”
ABC licensees who are found in violation of the law can get anything from a letter of warning to a fine, right on up to a suspension or a revocation of their license, depending on the magnitude of the violation or a history of past infractions.
Carr encourages business owners who are worried about complying with the ABC’s tasting, serving and sales regulations to have all their employees take the ABC’s free four-hour LEAD training classes (LEAD stands for Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs), which offers practical information on serving alcoholic beverages safely, responsibly and legally. Find out more at https://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/Lead%20webpage.html
