Redding Police did a series of underage alcohol stings Wednesday. It was an operation targeting store clerks who fail to ask purchasers for ID. The penalty for selling alcoholic beverages to a minor is a minimum $250 fine and/or 24 to 32 hours of community service. Administrative action is also taken against the licensed business. When minor decoy operations began in the 1980s, the violation rate was as high as 40 to 50%. The average has now dropped to around 10%. On Wednesday between 11AM and 3PM, Redding Police and State Alcohol Beverage Control brought their minor decoy to 23 different businesses and not a single one of them would make a sale.
– Steve Gibson