Underage Decoy Shoulder Tap Operation
February 12, 2025 9:30 AM
On Friday, February 7, 2025, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) conducted an underage Decoy Shoulder Tap operation. The operation utilized a decoy, under the age of 21 and supervised by SMPD Investigators. Underage Decoy Shoulder Tap operations are focused on adults who knowingly furnish alcoholic beverages to minors.
The minor decoy stands outside of a liquor or convenience store and asks customers to buy them alcohol. The minor also indicates they are underage and cannot purchase the alcohol. The goal is to reduce substance abuse and enhance community welfare by limiting underage access to alcoholic beverages.
The SMPD enforcement team visited 5 Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensed retail establishments in the city of Santa Monica. The decoy remained outside of the establishments and solicited 46 adult patrons to act as proxies to purchase an alcoholic beverage on their behalf. Two adult patrons were cited for purchasing alcohol for the minor decoy during the course of this operation.
This operation is part of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s Minor Decoy/Shoulder Tap Grant Project funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Media Contact
Lewis Gilmour
Lieutenant
Lewis.Gilmour@santamonica.gov