OAKDALE – What if you set up a sting operation in which you sent 18-20 year olds into stores to purchase alcohol and each time, they returned empty-handed?  Clerks all doing the right thing? Check!  So, have the decoys hit up customers and see if they can get their hands on beer that way.  On Thursday night, July 14, 2016 in Oakdale, customers weren’t having any part of that, nor were the store clerks.

“That’s what we call a full compliance night!  Congratulations Oakdale!  That’s what we want to see,” said California Alcoholic Beverage Control Agents (CABCA) President Kevin Highbaugh.

ABC agents and Oakdale police watched outside of 18 businesses as young decoys attempted to purchase alcohol.  Each time, the clerk asked to see identification and refused to sell to them.  At three locations, decoys asked customers if they would make the purchase of alcohol for them.  Every customer asked, declined.

“This is a very important part of what ABC agents do,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona.  “In addition to working to reduce drug, gang, domestic and gun violence,  they police large, crowded venues, and  they also check that businesses that sell alcohol are doing their part, by following the law and keeping alcohol out of the hands of those under 21.  There’s no telling how many lives that may save.  They are working to keep all of us safe.”