| Director's
Biography I
Director's
Message |
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Jerry Fischer
Director |
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| Welcome
to the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s
Web site. |
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| The
Division has put in place an array of programs
and services that have helped ensure a better
quality of life for New Jersey citizens, while
also maintaining a fair regulatory environment
for the state’s nearly 10,000 liquor licensees. |
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| For
instance, the Division adopted new regulations
that establish uniform penalties for violations
of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. This new
system helps conclude cases expeditiously and
also imposes a uniform penalty, free from allegations
of arbitrariness. |
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| Additionally,
as part of the agency’s efforts to be more
responsive to local community concerns regarding
liquor licensees, the Division has enhanced its
in-house hearing procedures. Ultimately, these
changes will ensure that quality of life issues
that directly impact residents are heard in a
prompt and efficient manner. |
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| The
Division also enhanced the dialogue between all
segments of the industry and the agency as part
of the standard process before and during the
promulgation of regulations. Through both regulation
and decision, the Division has ensured, and continues
to ensure, that the alcoholic beverage laws are
enforced in a manner that promotes competition
while recognizing that Title 33 acknowledges the
role of the small business owner in this industry. |
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| In
a related area, recognizing that underage drinking
can erode the quality of life in a neighborhood,
as well as in entire communities, the Division
established in 2002 a number of programs designed
to combat illicit alcohol use by young people,
particularly in college towns. Through the development
of community-based coalitions, law enforcement
officers, educators, liquor licensees and community
leaders worked to develop new programs that will
ultimately change the environment that can foster
illicit alcohol use. |
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| As
a follow-up to this new effort, the coalitions
expanded their scope to include alcohol and education
awareness efforts aimed at changing the mind set
many young people in middle school and high school
have about alcohol use before they enter the college
environment. |
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| Working
with the Partnership for a Drug Free NJ and NJ
DARE, the Division launched a statewide effort
designed to encourage middle school students to
work with their parents to create billboard messages
with the theme “Dangers of Alcohol.”
More then 450 students from throughout New Jersey
submitted entries. Thirteen winning messages,
selected from these submissions, are now featured
on a 2003 calendar that was distributed to middle
schools. Additionally, the grand prize winning
message, created by a young student from Union
County, was replicated on billboards around the
state. |
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| The
Division is also continuing its highly successful
and nationally recognized Cops in Shops initiative.
Under the program, local police officers work
undercover in retail liquor establishments looking
for underage individuals who may attempt to purchase
alcohol. Last summer, the program ran in 32 shore
towns and resulted in 212 arrests, bringing the
total number of arrests since the program’s
inception in 1996 to 3,200. |
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| Additional
information on all of the Division’s initiatives
is available on the Web site. I hope you will
find this information helpful. |
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| Director's
Biography I
Director's
Message
I
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