Oklahoma Steps Up Efforts to Curb Underage Drinking
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On Friday, February 26, 2006, the Garfield County Sheriff's Office was out in full force, searching for people who were selling beer and alcohol to minors. This sting operation proved successful but disheartening, nearly 60 percent of the stores targeted sold beer or liquor to the GCSO underage volunteers.
Garfield County deputies sent their volunteers into 19 liquor and convenience stores with instructions to attempt the purchase of beer or liquor. In just a few hours, eight citations were written and three arrests were made for selling to minors. While Deputy Shon Jackson called the results "disappointing," Deputy Brent Vaughn countered, "it's scary is what it is." The last sing conducted by the Garfield County Sheriff's Office yielded much different results, netting only 30 to 40 percent non-compliance with the law. Jackson revealed that many of the tips their sheriff's office receives regarding underage drinking parties come from the public. He hopes that the occasional sting operations also continue to help curbing the underage drinking problems Oklahoma has been trying to combat.
Additional initiatives targeting underage alcohol enforcement include Project Under 21, a program Deputy Vaughn recently completed. This program is open to other agencies in addition to law enforcement agencies and conducts their training twice a year.
