By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    Kate Thompson, manager of Amato’s in the Oak Hill
area of Scarborough, said angry customers have called to complain after
her employees have refused to sell them alcohol, but she stresses to
her employees they have the right to refuse service.

    The store’s policy to refuse out of state I.D.s and
to card anyone who looks under 30 years of age was put to the test last
Saturday as the Scarborough Police Department conducted its first
retail alcohol compliance check in a joint operation with the South
Portland Police Department.

    The detail commenced in Scarborough, where the 18
year old volunteer attempted to purchase alcohol from 16 stores. The
volunteer was instructed to give the clerk his real date of birth if
asked and to say he didn’t have his I.D. if asked for proof of age.
State law requires clerks to card anyone who looks to be under the age
of 27.

    “It’s the first time the unit has been able to reach
out to this area of liquor enforcement,” said Scarborough Police
Sergeant John O’Malley. “We’ve never had a proactive division before.”

    O’Malley said partnering with South Portland allowed the two departments to share costs and manpower.

    The South Portland Police Department typically
conducts two compliance checks per year. Last year, approximately half
of the stores sold to the underage volunteer, according to Officer
Jeffrey Caldwell of the Selective Enforcement Unit.

    “Our goal is zero-that’s what we like to see,” said Caldwell.

    This year, he said, the department decided to
conduct the detail after hosting two nights of “Alcohol Seller Server
Training” earlier this year for bar and retail licensees.  

       Caldwell said the department
signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Maine Department of
Public Safety’s Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division, which
authorizes police and sheriff departments to write administrative
violations. He said the department is trying to set up a course in
Cumberland County to train officers in writing the violations. While
waiting for the final authorization to come through, the department
files referrals to the state.   

    According to the Department of Public Safety’s Web
site, the MOUs became effective last July, three years after the Bureau
of Liquor Enforcement was disbanded.

    Jeffrey Austin, Supervisor of the state’s Liquor
Licensing and Inspections Unit, said the bureau was disbanded largely
due to budgetary constraints. Austin said approximately 40 police
departments and sheriff departments have signed the contract, which can
be cancelled by either party at any time.

    “It gives the local departments the authority to
enter licensed premises specifically to do compliance checks and look
for violations of liquor laws,” Austin said. He said the fact that a
police officer could walk into a store at any time to do a compliance
check is a “good deterrent” in itself.

    Scarborough Officer Ted Mahar, who was part of last
week’s detail, said in the past officers would observe a location and
check the I.D.s of people coming out of the store with alcohol. First
Stop Convenience on County Road in Scarborough is one store that
officers have kept an eye on in the past, said Mahar.

    During last Saturday’s check of 16 Scarborough
stores, however, First Stop did not allow a sale. The three locations
that did sell to the underage volunteer were Gail’s Sub-Deli on Route
One, Oak Hill Beverage and Redemption, and Hannaford Supermarket in Oak
Hill.  

    “Shocked is a good way to put it,” said O’Malley on
Monday of the detail’s results. He added, however, “I think the three
stores that sold are more an indication on the clerk, not so much the
store itself.”

    The Scarborough and South Portland officers alike
were surprised by the sale at Oak Hill Beverage and Redemption since
the business largely revolves around the sale of alcohol. The sales
clerk on duty, Gerry Thibodeau, said he usually cards everyone, but
added, “with alcohol it’s basically a judgment call.”

    Larger, corporate stores, such as Hannaford, tend to
have strict policies and give their employees more training and
warnings that if they don’t follow the guidelines they will lose their
jobs, said Mahar.  

    A check of 25 stores in South Portland turned up
zero violations. With Portland’s compliance checks recently in the
media, South Portland Officer Ken Cronin said on Monday, “It looks like
South Portland was paying attention to the news.”

    “I think it’s just an education issue,” he said. “I
think the people are more aware that the police are checking for
violations.”

    With the exception of one store that was closed,
several South Portland stores, which Caldwell said had posed problems
in the past, made it through the check without any violations.  

    Austin said retail stores and bars facing their
first violation are typically given fines of $550 to the licensee and
$190 to the seller, server, or clerk, but those figures depend on the
age of the minor involved.

    If a store received its first violation after
selling to a 17 year old, Austin said, the licensee could face a fine
of $1,800 and suspension of the store’s liquor license. In that case,
he said the clerk would also face a “hefty fine.”