LONG BEACH, NY. \u2014 A resolution to approve $18,000 in police overtime payments turned into a 40-minute discussion of underage drinking prevention policy at Wednesday night\u2019s City Council meeting.<\/p>\n
Council president Brendan Finn, council member Chris Fiumara and Long Beach Aware president Judi Vining all weighed in on the most effective ways to combat underage service at Long Beach bars. <\/p>\n
The discussion began with the third item on Wednesday\u2019s agenda, the acceptance of a grant for $18,800 from Long Beach Aware for police department overtime payment. The overtime payment funds part of collaboration between Long Beach Aware, the police department, prosecutors and city courts to curb underage drinking. <\/p>\n
During the discussion of underage drinking, Fiumara raised objections to a program that police commissioner Richard DePalma referred to as the \u201cguest doormen\u201d program, whereby undercover police officers work the door at Long Beach bars to stop underage customers before they can be served. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a terrible program, personally. It\u2019s just my opinion. Do I think underage drinking is terrible? Yeah. Have I done it? Absolutely. But I have a 17-year-old daughter, and I know that some of her friends do it. I know she probably does it,\u201d Fiumara said. \u201cI know they\u2019re also good kids\u2026but it\u2019s the bar owner who should be getting in trouble for that, not the kid, because that\u2019s something they practice, not the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the police department\u2019s point of view, DePalma called the guest doormen program a \u201cdisincentive to kids to go into bars, also it\u2019s to educate the bars, as well, on proper tactics to card properly and identify young kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Fiumara\u2019s view, however, the plan places undue emphasis on stopping kids from seeking out alcohol rather than stopping the adults around them from enabling that behavior. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf [drinkers are] going to a bar and they\u2019re underage\u2026 that\u2019s the practice of that bar,\u201d Fiumara said. \u201cAnd, it starts at home, too. I\u2019ve had parents call and threaten bar managers, [saying], \u2018You took away my son\u2019s fake ID!\u2019 Not, \u2018Hey, thank you,\u2019 not calling the police, they\u2019re defending their 17-year-old kid trying to sneak into a bar.\u201d <\/p>\n