Last fall, the Boston Police Department's D-14 station announced to area business owners and residents that they were about to conduct a sting operation to catch liquor sales to underage purchasers.Despite warning after warning that the sting operation was on its way, can you guess what happened? The sting operation still nailed a bunch of liquor stores -- and a couple of college students -- with underage purchase of alcohol.
The Allston-Brighton TAB reported that six Allston liquor stores in November 2008 sold alcohol to an undercover officer ("cadet") without requesting ID, and two Boston College students were issued criminal complaints for underage purchasing of alcohol on the same day as the sting operation.
Boston Police just issued a warning about a new sting operation that they will be carrying out in Allston-Brighton soon. Will local stores -- and underage college students -- heed the warning this time? Don't hold your breath.
Image of trunk full of beer by DrPantzo provided through a Creative Commons license.
1 comment:
Michael, considering all of the problems with major crime in the city and tight budget constraints exhibited by all public agencies, don't you think that the resources of the BPD (and by extension, D-14) would be best used elsewhere? As you pointed out, these sting operations don't change anything and only serve to inscribe a culture of fear among valuable legal adult members of the community.
Full disclosure: I am a volunteer for Choose Responsibility, an organisation that seeks to readdress the drinking age debate, founded by John McCardell, the former president of Middlebury College. There is an excellent interview with Mr. McCardell in Reason magazine this month, which, coincidentally, is one of my favourite magazines.
--Eric
Lanark Road, Brighton
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