Police can't completely prevent teens from getting their hands on alcohol, but they're stepping up efforts to make sure kids aren't buying booze from local businesses.

Alcohol compliance checks, including one done on a recent Thursday night, are one of the main tools law enforcement can use to make sure businesses verify ages, Det. Peter Ragnone said.

In the first three months of 2008, the Rapid City Police Department issued 331 citations for possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor.

That statistic has Ragnone determined to make sure local businesses are not allowing any minors to buy alcohol.

"It would only be reasonable that we should try to curb this problem," he said.

The checks are done randomly, Ragnone said. The police department doesn't keep a certain schedule, because they want to keep the businesses guessing.

"It just depends on the activity and the need for it," Ragnone said.

The police department usually uses informants between the ages of 18 and 20 years old. Many are Western Dakota Technical Institute law enforcement students or police cadets, which helps those students gain field experience.

The police department doesn't try to pick people who will "fool" clerks and bartenders, Ragnone said.

"We're not looking (for) a ringer, one who would appear to be 30 years old and is only actually 18," he said. "We're looking for those young people who represent the population of young people."

If an informant successfully buys alcohol in an establishment, the business is informed on the same night, usually shortly after the purchase, Ragnone said. Businesses who pass the test receive a letter in the mail with that information.

Since Jan. 1, 12 businesses with liquor licenses have failed by selling alcohol to underage police informants.

Ragnone said there are three different ways a business can be checked:

n The first way is random, so "anybody that has a liquor license can and eventually will be put on the list to do compliance checks," Ragnone said.

n Businesses can also be put on the list if the department receives a complaint, including from a teacher or parent, that leads police to suspect that minors are allowed to buy alcohol.

n A business can be checked if the establishment fails a previous compliance check. In that case, the police department will continue to go back to the business until the issue is resolved, Ragnone said.

Resolution happens eventually, Ragnone said, whether the business's employees begin checking identifications or the State Department of Revenue takes action against the business's liquor license.

Selling alcohol to a minor is a Class 2 misdemeanor that carries a maximum of 30 days in jail and $500 fine. The violation itself is charged against the employee who sells the alcohol. But the business can be held civilly liable, and a violation can put their liquor licenses in jeopardy.

Ragnone said the revenue department wide discretion when dealing with compliance violations.

"They have the option of fining the establishment, or they may choose to suspend the liquor license for a while," he said, adding that the consequences increase depending on the seriousness and frequency of the offenses.

But businesses usually tend to straighten out after one or two failed compliance checks, Ragnone said.

"The most trouble we've had at a business is only a few times," he said. "The management will usually take drastic efforts to correct the problem."

Contrary to popular belief, Ragnone said, the police department hopes to find the fewest violations possible.

"When we do an alcohol compliance check, the fewer buys that we get, the more successful we are," he said.

He said the informants don't hope for a large number of violations either, because they get paid a flat fee for a night's work. The fewer violations they find, the sooner they get to go home, he said.

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com.