The Santa Barbara Police Department announced on Thursday that it had been awarded a $100,000 grant from the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control that will aid programs to reduce underage drinking. Among the programs that stand to benefit from this money are the minor decoy program – which police use to identify and punish liquor shops that sell booze to people younger than 21 years old – and the youth offenders program – which has officers speaking to area youth about the dangers of alcohol and drug use.
A press release noted that, in 2007, the Santa Barbara Police arrested 936 people for public intoxication, 509 people for driving under the influence, 23 minors in bars, 210 minors who were in possession of alcohol, 198 minors who were using false IDs, and 16 people for selling or furnishing alcohol to a minor.