VPD utilizes confidential informants to bust businesses for selling alcohol to minors
One of eight businesses involved in an alcohol compliance check April 2 failed after selling alcohol to a minor.
Speedee Mart, located at 802 E. Cherry St., failed its check after an underage confidential informant for the Vermillion Police Department purchased alcohol from the convenience store.
“You really have to almost make an effort, or I guess not make any effort, to fail one of these checks. You either don’t ask for an ID at all or don’t look at it, because driver’s licenses for anyone under 21 is 90 degrees the wrong way and says right on there that they are not 21,” VPD Chief Matt Betzen said.
The following businesses were also part of the April 2 compliance check and passed: Cherry Pit Stop, Coyote Convenience, Freedom Valu Center, Pump N Stuff, Hy-Vee, Walmart and Pump ‘n Pak.
Police say the Speedee Mart employee that sold to the underage individual was issued a citation for providing alcohol to a person age 18-20. Business owners and managers were contacted and advised that a report of the sale would be sent to the Department of Revenue for review.
Selling alcohol to a person 18-20 years old is a Class 2 Misdemeanor in South Dakota. The maximum penalty is thirty days imprisonment in a county jail and/or a $500 fine.
This was the second alcohol compliance check of the year. The first was conducted Feb. 17, and one of the five businesses failed.
The VPD’s Investigations Division completed 41 alcohol compliance checks at businesses in Vermillion in 2014. Ten of those business sold alcohol to the confidential informants.
Some of the employees requested to see the IDs of the confidential informants and sold the alcohol anyway, while some of the employees did not even ask to see their identification, Betzen said. The compliance checks took about 75 officer hours, employed 10 confidential informants and cost about $2,000 for the purchase of alcohol and food at the checks.
Betzen said the rate of success — meaning businesses that pass the checks — decreased by about one percent between 2013 and 2014.
“There’s about a 75-percent pass rate we are hovering over right now,” Betzen said. “I’m looking at some things that we can potentially do to improve this rate, but nothing is in place right now.”
Compliance checks are conducted with the help of confidential informants between the ages of 18 and 20. The informants enter businesses that sell alcohol and attempt to purchase it, presenting their actual ID if asked to do so.
The use of underage volunteers is not allowed in all states and jurisdictions, and can be determined through law, ordinances and/or court decisions.
The VPD occasionally performs compliance checks known as “walk throughs.” This occurs when police come into businesses that serve alcohol and check IDs of anyone who they believe to be underage.
Other states’ law enforcement perform alcohol purchase surveys, where a younger-looking adult is sent into a store, bar or restaurant to see if the retailer will ask for an ID before making a sale. Under this program, no enforcement action is taken.
The success rate of compliance checks of local businesses is not just a concern for the VPD, but also Vermillion’s city government. City Manager John Prescott said when it comes to license renewal, the law enforcement activity comes into play.
Businesses that have failed a compliance check have to complete a management plan to present during their license renewal. This step has been in place for the past five years. Business owners are also asked questions about how they are re-educating their staff to avoid further failures.
“We’d like to see 100 percent success rate, but we realize that staff will make mistakes — errors will happen,” Prescott said. “What is more of a concern is when there is a pattern of continued failures.”
