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September 14, 2000 Seeking
young drinkers Michael
Corey DES MOINES, Iowa - When police raided Peggy's Cafe and Tavern near Drake University last January, 20 people were issued citations for drinking under the legal age. They were fined up to $100. When Melissa Newman, 18, of West Des Moines, allegedly got caught drinking, her car had already run down and killed 6-year-old Cassidy Mahedy. Newman is awaiting trial for vehicular homicide after an evening of drinking at the Fishbowl Bar on Merle Hay Road. Those who drink underage are taking a risk, but they far outnumber the people trying to catch them. State laws govern how alcohol is distributed and sold, but local officials are in charge of most enforcement. Most departments, especially in rural areas, do not have the personnel to actively target underage drinkers or those who provide alcohol to them. "It's home rule out there, and it's up to them how to do it," said Judy Seib, bureau chief of licensing and regulation for the Alcoholic Beverages Division of the Iowa Department of Commerce. Even the Des Moines Police vice squad can be overwhelmed. Vice coordinator Mike Westlake said the squad has only two investigators to deal with more than 500 liquor licenses in the city. The investigators' time is divided, too, and they spend most of it on prostitution and narcotics enforcement, he said. "There's probably a lot of bars out there you can walk into and find one or two (underage drinkers)," Westlake said. "For the most part, what we do is respond and do a walk-through on a complaint basis. If we do have time, the vice unit will just start going down the lines. We try to keep up with it as much as possible." If police do receive a complaint, Westlake said, bars can be checked for many things. Police may ask to see patrons' identification, the bar's liquor license or the bar's books. They can check for bootleg alcohol. Under state law, bartenders are required to take "reasonable care" to assure that people they serve are 21 or older. They also are forbidden to serve alcohol to anyone who is intoxicated. But what is reasonable care? Are "college bars" that students frequent any different than the American Legion tavern? Des Moines police attorney Doug Phillip said no. "I think the standards are going to the same," he said. "Minors are going to try to infiltrate wherever the bar is located." But Phillip said it shouldn't surprise people that some bars get more police scrutiny than others. "If the public is more concerned about a bar through complaints, then that one is probably going to get more attention," he said. If police do find underage drinkers, they are usually issued a citation. They can be fined up to $100, told to do community service or get probation. The bar owners are the ones in real trouble, however. An administrative judge can suspend a liquor license for up to 90 days or recommend revocation. A bar owner can appeal a local decision to state arbitration. Ames officials recently decided some bar owners had been getting a free ride. Bar owners, including owners with many violations, were allowed to go through a fast-track license renewal procedure, said assistant city attorney Judy Parks. The city decided that if an establishment had more than 12 underage violations in one year, the police department would recommend that the license not be renewed. Those violations could include incidents where minors were simply found inside a bar, even if they were not drinking, Parks said. "They've had long enough to learn," she said. In Ames, the police department sends a letter to the city council with a recommendation for each license. At least one license has already been challenged under the new policy, Park said. The owner was allowed a six-month license to show he could keep his violations down, Parks said. Parks said some owners of larger bars complained they were more likely to have violations than smaller bars simply because of their size. Parks said the police department might also make allowances if bar owners are making efforts to keep out underage drinkers. She said the police look favorably on owners if they have attended police department classes on recognizing fake I.D.'s, if they are seizing licenses, if they have bouncers checking I.D.'s at their door, and if they are calling police to report fake I.D.'s. The Des Moines city council has denied three renewals this year. Westlake said no liquor license has been revoked in Des Moines this year, but several revocation cases are pending. Three licenses, including the Fishbowl's, have been surrendered before a revocation hearing was held. If the license had been revoked, the owners could not own a bar anywhere in Iowa for two years, and no one could serve alcohol at the Fishbowl's address for a year. Westlake said officials understand that usually responsible owners can slip up. "Generally we don't go for revocation ... unless there's a history of violations," he said. "Sometimes they screw up and get over it. If it happens again, though, we'll look at that even stronger." |