Photograph by Robert Scheer
Los Gatos police are joining law enforcement agencies throughout the county in stepping up patrols to enforce underage drinking laws.
By Shari Kaplan
From Palo Alto to Gilroy, local law enforcement personnel are gearing up for the graduation and summer "party season." Patrols are stepped up in case festivities get too rowdy, and officers are on the lookout for venues at which underage party-goers are drinking alcohol.
"There is a whole range of state and local laws that govern underage drinking, loud parties and property damage," explains Gilroy Police Chief Roy Sumisaki, speaking for the Santa Clara County Police Chiefs Association, which is allied with the California Office of Traffic Safety in promoting the Sober Graduation project. "No police officer wants to tell a graduating senior not to celebrate, but all 3,000 of us in this county will enforce the laws."
Not only is it illegal for those under 21 to consume alcoholic beverages, it is also illegal for adult hosts to serve alcohol to minors or to turn the other way when minors are imbibing. Charging admission for entrance into a party involving alcohol is also prohibited. Sumisaki adds that minors driving vehicles will be arrested even if they have a trace amount (less than that needed for a DUI) of alcohol in their systems.
Los Gatos is among seven cities, including Saratoga and San Jose, in which party hosts are charged if officers must respond to a party twice because neighbors complained of noise, music, fighting, drunkenness or other disturbances of the peace. The first time is a warning, in which hosts sign a form that serves to document a police response was necessary.
According to Los Gatos Police Sgt. Michael Yorks, the LGPD charges a "cost recovery" fee of $1.72 per minute per officer if police must return to shut down a party, whether or not it involves alcohol.
This cost recovery fee exists because officers must spend time standing by and waiting for party-goers to leave; on occasion, they may have to assist in clearing out the party. All fees go to the town's general fund.
According to town ordinances, if police find any minors drinking or possessing alcohol in a private home, the minors will be cited, along with the host. The only situation in which adults may serve alcohol to minors is when parents are supervising their own children.
"It's an infrequent problem," Yorks says about police return calls and underage drinking parties. "When you start enforcing this, word gets around, and it doesn't happen as much. People are aware of this, and those who aren't generally comply the first time so we don't have to return."
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, June 12, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved