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TRENTON – More than
230 people were arrested as a result of
this year’s Cops in Shops summer program,
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control Director
Jerry Fischer announced today. The program
targeted underage drinkers and those who
bought alcohol for them. The statistics
reflect a 25 percent increase over last
year’s arrests.
“The Division continues
to work together with municipalities to
crack down on underage drinking,”
Director Fischer said. “Underage drinkers,
and those who buy alcohol for them, need
to know that law enforcement is watching.”
Over the summer, 28 shore
municipalities participated in the Cops
in Shops program, with approximately $61,000
in funding provided by the Division of Highway
Traffic Safety. Twenty of these municipalities
made a total of 237 arrests this year in
connection with the program.
Now in its twelfth year,
Cops in Shops is a program designed by The
Century Council, a national not-for-profit
organization funded by distillers, which
is committed to fighting underage drinking.
Under the program, which ran this year from
May 23 to Sept. 30, local police officers
worked undercover in participating retail
locations. Law enforcement officers either
posed as store employees or were positioned
outside the establishment to apprehend adults
who attempted to purchase alcohol for underage
drinkers.
As part of the program,
retail outlets displayed posters and decals
on doors, windows, counter tops, and cold
cases warning underage drinkers that a police
officer may be working undercover in the
establishment.
The following towns are
participating in the 2008 Cops in Shops
summer program:
Atlantic County: Absecon,
Egg Harbor Township, and Margate; Cape May
County: Avalon, Cape May, Lower Township,
Middle Township, North Wildwood, Sea Isle
City, and Wildwood; Monmouth County: Belmar,
Holmdel, Lake Como, Neptune, Ocean Township;
Ocean County: Barnegat Township, Beach Haven,
Harvey Cedars, Lakehurst, Lavallette Borough,
Long Beach Township, Manchester Township,
Ocean Township, Pt. Pleasant, Seaside Heights,
Ship Bottom, and Stafford Township.
Charges for providing alcohol
to underage patrons are disorderly persons’
offenses, and penalties include fines of
at least $500. Charges of underage drinking
are also disorderly persons’ offenses,
and penalties include fines as well as suspension
of drivers’ licenses.
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