BOULDER, Colo.—Fake ID arrests in Boulder have dropped more than half this year, and officials say they’ll revive a surveillance program next year to go after more underage drinkers.
With two weeks left in the year, fake ID arrests in the college town were down 56 percent from 2007.
Boulder Police say the drop comes after the city lost funding in March for a “Cops in Shops” surveillance program in liquor stores. Last year, 80 fake ID tickets were issued through Dec. 17, This year, there were only 35 tickets issued through the same period, an annual decline of 56 percent.
Boulder Police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley told the Daily Camera newspaper that fake ID arrests should be back up next year.
That’s because the police department and the University of Colorado recently received a $45,200 grant to crack down on underage drinking. Huntley says the grant will be used to revive the surveillance program starting in 2009.
The crackdown will be like the one funded with a 2006 grant, where 30 so-called “shoulder tap” surveillance events were set up outside liquor stores.
“If we see people going in who appear to be underage, we’ll tap them on the shoulder and ask to see their IDs,” Huntley said. “A lot of our sting operations were conducted in 2007, which probably explains why those numbers are higher.”
Boulder liquor store owners say the stakeouts make a big dent in would-be underage customers.
“They make a big deal about it, bring (the suspect) out front where everybody can see—it really helps spread awareness,” said Chris Emma, the store manager for Liquor Mart in Boulder.
“It also helps people to know that we’re responsible and we take this seriously.”
———
Information from: Daily Camera,
