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BELMAR
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow today
joined with state, county and local law
enforcement officials to announce a comprehensive
law enforcement and public awareness effort
by the Divisions of Alcoholic Beverage Control
and Highway Traffic Safety to combat underage
drinking in Jersey Shore resort areas this
summer.
“Today
I am calling on our law enforcement partners
and those people in the alcoholic beverage
industry to help us combat rampant underage
drinking by cracking down on fake IDs,"
Attorney General Dow said. "Far too
many young people use this fraudulent document
as a gateway to obtain alcohol illegally."
Division
of Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Jerry
Fischer added, “Through its law enforcement
efforts and its public awareness initiatives,
the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
continues to send a strong message that
underage drinking can have not just legal
ramifications, but also life-changing consequences
that affect the drinker and all of the people
whose lives the drinker may shatter.”
Scores
of law enforcement personnel and alcoholic
beverage representatives joined with the
Attorney General at a late morning press
conference held at the Taylor Pavilion in
Belmar.
Division
of Highway Traffic Safety Acting Director
Gary Poedubicky stressed the potentially
fatal consequences of underage drinking
and driving.
“While
we continue to make steady progress in our
fight to keep drunk drivers off of our roads,
we still have a long way to go if we are
to ensure that all drivers remain safe,”
Acting Director Poedubicky said. “In
2009, nearly 28,000 individuals were arrested
in New Jersey for driving while intoxicated,
and of those charged, nearly 3,000 were
under the age of 21.”
Diane
Weiss, Executive Director of the New Jersey
Licensed Beverage Association (NJLBA), which
is comprised of bar, tavern and restaurant
owners throughout New Jersey, stated that
the association strongly supports the efforts
announced today to combat underage drinking.
“The
members of the NJLBA are committed to the
safe and responsible use of alcohol by those
21 years of age and older,” Weiss
said. “However, for those who are
underage and may be thinking about using
fraudulent identification to purchase or
consume alcohol this summer, our message
is clear: We will not tolerate this behavior
in our licensed establishments. Our members
participate in server training programs
that provide them with the necessary tools
to identify those under the legal drinking
age, and they will be on the lookout this
summer and throughout the year, to stop
underage drinkers from entering their establishments.”
Efforts to keep people from underage drinking
include a combination of law enforcement
initiatives and public outreach programs:
Law
Enforcement Efforts:
Cops
in Shops
Cops
in Shops is a program designed by the Century
Council, a national not-for-profit organization
funded by distillers. Under the program,
local police officers work undercover in
participating retail locations. Law enforcement
officials either pose as store employees
or are positioned outside the establishment
to apprehend adults who attempt to purchase
alcohol for underage drinkers. The New Jersey
Cops in Shops program is recognized nationally
as a successful program.
Last
summer, 230 people were arrested through
the Cops in Shops summer program. This summer,
30 Shore police departments are participating
in the Cops in Shops program, with approximately
$61,000 in funding provided by the Division
of Highway Traffic Safety.
In
addition, 22 police departments, as well
as the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s
Office, are running year-round Cops in Shops
programs beginning this summer, using funding
provided by the federal Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control also
administers the Cops in Shops College-Fall
Initiative. The College-Fall Initiative
grant is available to police departments
in New Jersey with a college or university
either within its borders or in a neighboring
community and is aimed at keeping anyone
under the age of 21 from drinking alcohol.
This program runs from November through
June.
The lists of the towns participating in
each Cops in Shop program can be found following
the press release. Funding for this effort
is provided by the Division of Highway Traffic
Safety.
Since its inception in 1996, more than 9,000
underage persons and adults have been arrested
in New Jersey as a result of the Cops in
Shops initiative.
"New Jersey's efforts to combat underage
drinking and in particular the Summer Shore
Initiative are the gold standard on how
to successfully conduct a Cops in Shops
program," said Century Council Traffic
Safety Director Ron Engle. "The Century
Council, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary
this year, is proud of its long standing
relationship with the New Jersey Department
of Law and Public Safety which includes
the New Jersey Divisions of Alcoholic Beverage
Control and Highway Traffic Safety."
Public
Outreach Efforts:
“Proms
and Alcohol Don’t Mix” PSA Contest:
The “Proms and Alcohol Don’t
Mix” PSA contest, funded by a grant
provided by the New Jersey Division of Highway
Traffic Safety, asked high school seniors
to create scripts for a 30-second television
public service announcement. The statewide
contest was designed to increase awareness
about the dangers of underage drinking,
particularly during prom and graduation
season. The winning script was produced
into a public service announcement which
aired on cable stations throughout New Jersey
between April and June. This year’s
winning script was written by Kimberly Etzin,
Angela DePaola, Allison Lotito, Alexandria
Sprenger and Taylor Sisti, high school seniors
at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale,
Bergen County.
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Watch
this and previous years winning videos
The
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control continues
its cooperation with the Partnership for
a Drug-Free New Jersey to educate young
people about the dangers of underage drinking.
“Underage
drinking by our children continues to be
a serious and alarming issue in our state,”
Angelo Valente, Executive Director of the
Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey said.
“The Partnership for a Drug-Free New
Jersey (PDFNJ) is pleased to be collaborating
with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic
Beverage Control to address this problem,
and get the message out around our state
about the Dangers of Underage Drinking.
With these two initiatives, PDFNJ is utilizing
the two most impactful prevention strategies,
peer to peer messaging and the role of parents
in prevention.”
The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
and the Partnership for a Drug-Free New
Jersey paired up to sponsor two initiatives
that were funded through a grant provided
by the federal grant that also funds the
year-round Cops in Shops program.
“Listen-Up
to the Dangers of Underage Drinking”
Radio PSA Program: Aimed at middle school
students, the “Listen-Up” program
challenged young people to create a script
for a 30-second radio public service announcement
that talked directly to parents about the
dangers of underage alcohol use. The winning
students produced and starred in the radio
spots, which will be distributed to stations
in the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia
media market. One of this year’s winning
scripts was written by Abbie Horan, Christina
Hyland, Meaghan Ferguson, Shannon Keller,
Ashlyn Doherty, Michelle Julich, Dana Demnitz,
8th grade students at Borough School in
Morris Plains. The other winning script
was written by Ashlyn Doherty, Michelle
Julich, Dana Demnitz and Cayley Blenner,
also of Borough School in Morris Plains.
“Dangers
of Underage Drinking” Billboard/Calendar
Competition: This statewide initiative
is designed to encourage middle school students
and their parents to work together to create
billboard/calendar messages with the theme
“Dangers of Underage Drinking.”
Thirteen winning messages will be featured
on a calendar to be distributed to middle
schools at the start of the 2012 calendar
year. One message will be featured each
month, and the grand-prize winning message
will be displayed on the calendar’s
front cover. Additionally, the grand-prize
winning message will be reproduced on highway
billboards throughout the state. The grand
prize winner is listed below with the finalists:
Grand
Prize: Melissa Gonzalez of Perth
Amboy.
Finalists:
Sarina Rodriguez, Melissa Ayllon, and
Xavier Messado, all of Perth Amboy; Veronica
Behman, Gabriella Carnevale, Melina Mejia,
and Sofia Molina, all of Carteret; Olivia
Carlino and Brianna Limongello of Belford,
Teagan Monaco of Summit, Paolo Matti of
Union and Michelle Xu of Mount Laurel.
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