Oxford County’s police departments have received $500 grants to help them tackle underage drinking, money they will use to increase alcohol awareness and step-up investigation tactics.

Bethel, Dixfield, Mexico, Norway, Oxford, Paris and Rumford police and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department each received grants from the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition.

The Rumford-based nonprofit got the money from the state’s Office of Substance Abuse, according to Patricia Duguay, the coalition director. This is the first year the grants have been issued.

She said the coalition is urging police to use the money for publicity or to pay officers overtime to track down adults who provide alcohol or who may abet drinking by providing spaces for parties.

“It’s a big concern in all areas,” Duguay said. “It’s a culture. One of our biggest hurdles is the adult population.”

She said adults can be dismissive of the problem, brushing it aside with the words, “They all do it. It’s a rite of passage.”

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol is a leading contributor to fatal injuries, which is the number one cause of death for people under 21. It reports that about 5,000 people under 21 die in car crashes, homicides, suicides or other unintentional injuries that involve underage drinking.

Duguay also said the younger someone is when they start drinking, the higher the probability they will have problems with alcohol later.

Norway police Chief Rob Federico said police can try to curb teen drinking by putting undercover officers in stores that sell booze. He said, too, that the grant will likely be used to increase awareness.

“Other than the people interested in the problem, it really doesn’t seem to have gathered interest from people, adults,” Federico said.

He mentioned, too, that the department offers to watch out for houses left to the kids by parents who leave for a weekend.