FY11 EUDL

OJJDP's State and Community Development Awards program was established to provide grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that OJJDP has selected for funds in prior years. This program has been authorized by an Act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice.

The goal of the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) Program is to support and enhance State efforts, in cooperation with local jurisdictions, to enforce laws prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, or the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors. For the purpose of the program, minors are defined as individuals under 21 years of age.

Since 1998, New Jersey has implemented the Cops in Shops program throughout the State. Created by the Century Council, a national non-profit organization dedicated to combating underage drinking, the Cops in Shops program offers a unique approach to preventing the illegal purchase of alcohol by underage persons through a partnership of liquor retailers and the law enforcement community. The program also targets adults who purchase alcoholic beverages for underage individuals.

Specifically, undercover police officers will be placed in retail distribution outlets (liquor stores) posing as employees or patrons to stop anyone under age 21 who attempts to purchase alcohol or use false identification, or, those of legal age who purchase alcohol for underage persons. The program advertises to and educates youth, adults and parents about the legal repercussions of underage drinking through the use of posters, stickers (advertised at point of sale) and newspaper releases.

Training of police officers implementing the Cops in Shops program will be offered by the Division of ABC Investigations and Enforcement Bureaus. One of the key aspects of training is identification of underage persons and false IDs. Participating departments will be required to inform the ABC Investigations Bureau on their planned operations prior to implementation. The NJABC Investigations Bureau will serve as the central agency for multiple agency de-confliction to prevent undercover detectives from the NJABC from operating in the same establishment, at the same time, as a Cops in Shops operation.

The Division will require that each participating law enforcement agency submit time sheets and arrest data to document the effectiveness of the program.

NCA/NCF