PARIS – Nine businesses have been reported to the state agency that regulates liquor licenses after selling alcohol to a minor Saturday, according to the Paris Police Department.
A minor was asked to enter 17 businesses in Norway, Paris and Oxford that night and attempt to purchase alcohol without any form on identification, said Paris Sgt. Michael Dailey.
Nine of the 17 businesses involved in what Dailey described as a “police detail” sold the individual alcohol without asking for any form of ID, he said Wednesday. “From my perspective, it was kind of an eye-opener.” It is illegal in Maine to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.
Dailey said the Police Department typically receives more complaints about minors purchasing alcohol at this time of year, as high school graduation and the prom approach. This is the first time the Paris Police Department has participated in such an operation. The work was carried out with the help of a grant and a deputy from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, he said.
Similar operations have become scarce in the state since cuts to the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement budget in 2003 resulted in the elimination of all the agency’s enforcement personnel.
Dailey said he wants to remind businesses that the law still is being enforced, and also wants to educate clerks and store owners about the law.
Saturday’s operation took place over about five hours, Dailey said. The businesses that sold alcohol to the minor were immediately approached by Dailey and the deputy assisting in the effort.
It is easier to pursue such violations through the Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division of the Maine Department of Public Safety in Augusta, Dailey said, so reports of all violations Saturday were sent there.
Comments are no longer available on this story