Sheathed in baggy jeans and puff-coat sweatshirts, some of the
loiterers outside of many alcohol retail stores in Westwood may
have more authority than their casual appearance suggests.
Members of the West Los Angeles Police Department’s vice
squad have recently increased undercover operations in Westwood as
part of an attempt to crack down on underage alcohol purchases.
West LAPD vice oversees alcohol, drug, gambling and
prostitution-related enforcement.
The effort is part of a grant program, sponsored by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger’s office through the Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control to work with law enforcement near University of
California and California State University campuses to enforce
alcohol restrictions at local establishments.
West LAPD’s vice program was awarded one of the six
$50,000 grants given to police departments near UC locations by the
ABC in order to reduce underage alcohol purchasing. The grant
allocates money specifically for the prevention, education and
enforcement of alcohol-related activities.
The recent presence of undercover officers in Westwood is part
of LAPD’s efforts to use the remaining money from the grant
before it expires at the end of May.
“I think it’s been a tremendous success if by no
other means by opening up lines of communication with
agencies,” said Robin Crabb, ABC’s district
administrator in charge of the grant. “If we’ve saved
one life then it’s worth it.”
West LAPD vice undertook the grant program specifically in
Westwood because of recent complaints from businesses and local
residents about widespread underage alcohol purchasing and
consumption, often stemming from the use of fake IDs, said Sergeant
Quan, vice supervisor of the West LAPD.
Nancy Greenstein, spokeswoman for UCPD, said the department
reported 122 arrests in 2004 for alcohol-related offenses and an
additional 37 DUI arrests.
The increased presence of undercover agents in Westwood has
resulted in some UCLA students receiving citations for purchasing
alcohol underage at local liquor-selling establishments such as
Rite-Aid, Longs Drugs and Ralphs.
Mark Ellinghouse, a second-year student, said he was caught
trying to buy alcohol outside of Longs Drugs by two officers in
plain clothes.
He said as he exited the store with his purchase, the undercover
agents approached him and asked to see ID as they showed concealed
badges.
Ellinghouse said he did not think police were spending their
time well by targeting underage drinkers.
“(The police) should be putting money toward making sure
people don’t drink and drive,” Ellinghouse said.
Perry Seaman, a second-year student, also said he had a run-in
with undercover police in Westwood. He said he was about to
purchase alcohol at Longs using a fake ID but decided against it,
and upon exiting saw undercover officers confronting other
students.
“It’s kind of pointless stationing cops outside of
liquor stores located around a college campus, because college is
about growing up, its about being on your own, it’s about
being independent and making your own decisions,” he said,
suggesting police instead focus on intervention in high school
drinking issues.
While the current LAPD grant expires in May, the ABC is offering
another upcoming $1.5 million grant program not limited to college
towns, offering a maximum yearly grant of $100,000 to individual
state police agencies. Applications for that grant are due by the
end of this month and will be awarded in the summer.
Both grant programs were created as a reaction to the scaling
back of alcohol prevention and law enforcement programs in
1994.
Officials with the tax-funded ABC, whose primary concern is
underage access to alcohol, said they needed to find a way to
address alcohol-related issues in spite of reduced manpower, and as
a result started to work in conjunction with local law-enforcement
agencies, Crabb said.
Quan said undercover police are situated in Westwood most often
during what he described as “peak times”: the beginning
of the quarter, after midterms and after finals.
Problems stemming from underage alcohol use such as drug
dealing, drunk driving and violence and assault all contributed to
the necessity of the undercover program, he said.
The undercover officers have not been used only to target
underage purchasers. About half of their efforts have been
dedicated to regulating the alcohol sales of local business.
Westwood’s 50 assorted ABC registered businesses have had
several incidents of noncompliance to ABC regulations in recent
years, most notably with the closure of Madison’s in 2002, a
bar which was closed for violating alcohol laws.
Many local businesses were mostly supportive of the undercover
operations.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts of the LAPD and vice
squad,” said Josh Normand, manager of Maloney’s on
Campus on Gayley Avenue. “Any help is greatly appreciated
these days as (fake) IDs are being manufactured at an alarming
rate.”