As UCLA students frequently venture out to consume alcoholic
beverages in neighboring bars and restaurants, their desires often
clash with the law.
Recently, UCPD and some Westwood residents have been taking
steps to eliminate the underage drinking that is so prevalent on
and around college campuses.
“We’ve had a lot of problems with alcohol
enforcement in Westwood,” said Sandy Brown, president of
Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association. “We must pay
closer attention to who is getting served and who is purchasing
alcohol.”
Many factors affect the effective implementation of stricter
alcohol enforcement. From the students’ desires to enjoy
their weekends to business establishments’ fears of declining
sales to residents’ concerns about the negative effects of
underage drinking, enforcement stirs strong emotions from all
sides.
For Westwood homeowners the loud, late-night parties and
occasional drunken brawls are a great cause for concern.
“The neighborhood doesn’t want to walk around bar
after bar in the Village,” Brown said.
The issue is not so much alcohol consumption, residents say, as
it is a concern that there are too many liquor establishments in
the area which are not strict enough.
With over 200 homes with young families in the Westwood area
homeowners are seeking a change in the face of Westwood.
When the Village was developed in 1929, it contained two
gardening stores among retail establishments. Now some residents
lament at the near 80 restaurants, four drug stores, and lack of
better retail options.
“We read about fights and we read about places that have
to close down. If you sold high-end retail that was very expensive
would you want to open up next to Maloney’s?” Brown
added, referring to stores selling more expensive goods .
As a result, many residents have applauded the efforts of UCPD,
in conjunction with LAPD vice division, to control drinking in
Westwood.
In July, a training program was sponsored by UCPD in which bar
managers and servers attended seminars about the various methods of
curbing underage drinking.
The seminar was part of a program introduced to Westwood in
April of 2002 known as Standardized Training for Alcohol Retailers.
The seminars teach restaurants how to spot minors and tactfully
decline service to patrons.
Among the restaurants in attendance was Chili’s Grill
& Bar ““ one of a only a few places in Westwood that offer
a full bar.
“We talked about how to identify fake ID’s and
learned about some of the tricks students use,” said Nicole
McDaniels, a manager at Chili’s.
For Chili’s, the transition was easy since the restaurant
already had the tools in place necessary for controlling alcohol
consumption when it was contacted by UCPD, McDaniels said.
Some of the tools included a swiper machine capable of
identifying counterfeit ID’s and a video about what servers
and bartenders should look for when checking identification.
“We’re very strict. We check for counterfeit
ID’s, expired ID’s, and we don’t take
international identification. “¦ A passport is OK, but we
won’t take a German driver’s license,” McDaniels
said, giving an example of an international license that the
restaurant wouldn’t accept.
The California Alcoholic Beverage Control has also been involved
in the alcohol enforcement programs in Westwood. The agency
licenses and regulates the manufacture, importation, and sale of
alcoholic beverages, according to its Web site.
One of the special programs implemented by the agency and used
in Westwood is the Minor Decoy Program. The program allows local
law enforcement agencies to use people under 20 to act as decoys in
establishments selling alcoholic beverages, in order to check for
underage drinking.
The program has been very successful, according to the agency,
and after its implementation in 1994 underage drinking decreased
dramatically. In one operation in Fresno, decoys visited over 40
establishments and did not get served alcohol once, as reported on
the agency’s Web site.
But students express frustration that the stricter enforcement
interferes with their desire to take advantage of the college
experience, which often involves underage drinking.
With reports from Brendan Kearns, Bruin
contributor.