SARATOGA SPRINGS - Mark
Lewis says maintaining eye contact is the key.
If a customer comes into Purdy's Wine and Liquor, where he
serves as a sales associate, and asks for two bags, he'll ask
why. If they come in and offer a suspicious looking ID, he'll
ask them to recite their date of birth.
If they falter in their answer or look away, Lewis puts the
product back on the shelf.
His vigilance was rewarded on Tuesday when, along with a host
of other area clerks and business owners, he was recognized
for passing a recent alcohol compliance check in which police
sought to find retailers willing to sell libations without
regard to the 21-year-old threshold.
"We have to hold
ourselves to a little higher standard than the person on the
other side of the counter," Lewis, a seven-year veteran of
Purdy's, said of his discretion at the register.
The recognition comes after police visited a host of alcohol
retail outlets in South Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs and
Waterford within the last month.
All 16 of the venues
checked between South Glens Falls and Waterford passed, while
19 of the 23 venues checked in Saratoga Springs passed,
officials said.
Businesses that were caught selling to a minor may lose their
liquor license, while the clerks can face misdemeanor charges
and be required to attend intervention training.
Judy Ekman, the executive director for the Saratoga County
Prevention Council, said such levels of compliance have not
always been the norm. Just six years ago, when police began
targeting alcohol retail outlets, fewer than 80 percent of
those hit by police passed the test, she said.
"We are now getting to be a county where underage people are
less and less able to purchase alcohol," Ekman said.
Alcohol vendors "used
to be looked at as the enemy," but have now become an integral
part of the solution, she added.
Mike Merrow, the district manager for Hannaford locations in
the Capital Region, says the chain is a good case in point. He
cited a company policy that dictates shift leaders or managers
must verify an alcohol sale at the register, something he said
is a "critical" component to the store's ability to prevent
underage sales.
"We're embracing our responsibility to protect our community,
and our youth," Merrow said during a press conference at the
Hannaford Bros. supermarket on Weibel Avenue in Saratoga
Springs.
Still, prevention
officials said tamping out underage drinking will take more
than periodic compliance checks.
A 2008 survey by the Prevention Council showed 10 percent of
students in grades seven through 12 got alcohol from an of-age
person they know, while 8 percent said they got it from
someone they know that was not of age. Another 10 percent said
they got it from home. The remaining students surveyed said
they had not had alcohol within the last year.
With graduation season approaching, drunken-driving patrols
will be increased, and hotels will also be urged to watch for
potential underage drinking parties.
Police were also recently trained on how to manage parties
where underage drinking is taking place, training that will
now be put to use.
Authorities are also urging parents to keep alcohol away from
graduation parties.
