During
her time serving with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, Laura
Motes spent three years as part of the Alcohol Compliance Unit/Vehicles
For Hire Unit, during which time she worked with the Georgia Department
of Revenue to deal with alcohol license violations, while also placing
much of her focus on the issue of underage drinking. There are a number
of things that premises that sell alcohol can do in order to remain
compliant and ensure they don’t end up selling alcohol to minors,
including all of the following.
Always Check ID
It
may seem like a simple tip, but many new store owners or employees
often end up becoming incompliant because they have assumed that the
people they are serving are of legal drinking age. If you have any doubt
at all about a person’s age, ask to see some ID. Be wary of any
customers who make a big fuss about showing ID and don’t give into any
pressure that may be placed on you by people who haven’t brought a form
of identification along. You should also improve your knowledge of the
various forms of ID that people can use to purchase alcohol, so that you
are abler to spot fakes.
Train Employees
Your
store’s employees are essentially representatives of your premises, so
if they make mistakes or purposefully sell alcohol to minors the
responsibility will usually fall on you. As such, you need to make sure
that you are careful when hiring new employees and that you have a
rigorous training program in place. Put special emphasis on the
consequences of selling alcohol to minors and try to train employees in
the best ways to spot when an underage person might be trying to acquire
alcohol.
Keep Alcohol Separate From Soft Drinks
In
many cases, minors may pick up alcoholic beverages, particularly those
commonly referred to as “alcopops,” by mistake if they are on display
next to soft drinks or other beverages. As such, it is good practice to
create a display specifically designed for alcohol. It may also be a
good idea to have that display somewhere that is in the line of sight of
employees, so that they can keep an eye on any suspicious behavior.
Assess Groups
If
a group of people attempts to purchase alcohol from your establishment,
Laura Motes notes that it is important to examine everybody in the
collective. In some cases, somebody of age may try to purchase alcohol
for minors who are with them, so if you have any suspicions that this is
happening you should ask to see the IDs of every individual. Try to
keep an eye out for awkward body language, such as a member of the group
who is fidgeting or purposefully avoiding eye contact.
