Police Monitor Local Establishments’ Sale of Alcohol to Minors

Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan says he’s pleased with recent compliance checks at 19 stores and 5 bars in the central Aroostook County area.

Officers from the Caribou Police Department along with Aroostook County Sheriff’s Deputies oversaw the operation in which people under the legal drinking age attempted to purchase alcohol.

Chief Gahagan reported 100% compliance; not one of the stores or bars sold to the underage individual. In July of 2010, Caribou Police reported only 50% compliance.

“Underage drinking prevention and enforcement is a very important part of the Caribou Police Department,” Gahagan said. “We utilize multiple grants to conduct different types of enforcement, including saturation and party patrols, parking lot enforcement, impaired driving enforcement and compliance checks with no cost to the citizens of Caribou.”

Several agencies in Aroostook County provide TIPS training to educate and train for the responsible service, sale and consumption of alcohol. Gahagan said that the improvement in compliance can be attributed to training servers and sellers and the positive interaction with law enforcement.

The program utilized funds from a grant provided by Community Voices of Fort Kent.

Gahagan asked citizens to report underage drinking activity to the Caribou Police Department.