Violations double in Missouri for liquor, tobacco

A little over a year ago, an underage girl wandered into Breakaways Bar and Billiards in Cape Girardeau and quietly helped herself to some of her friend's pitcher of beer. On her way out of the busy bar, she was busted by a state liquor control agent, and Breakaways caught some heat.

But today, the owner of the Main Street establishment calls it a blessing in disguise.

"We were in the wrong," said Michael Hess, a co-owner of Breakaways at 15 N. Main St. "She was caught drinking in our bar. We weren't watching closely enough. We do now."

The state's Division of Liquor Control is catching more and more people and businesses, reporting that it arrested twice as many people for alcohol and tobacco violations compared to a year ago. The same is true in liquor control's District 5, which covers 19 Southeast Missouri counties. The district had 94 citations over the last six months of 2002, more than double the total of the entire previous fiscal year.

Those figures come almost a year after a lawmakers threatened to cut the division's budget by $3.5 million, which would have forced it to close. But that is a coincidence, said Don Pickard, district supervisor of the Cape Girardeau-based district.

"We have received no pressure from our central office in Jefferson City to increase our productivity for any reason," Pickard said. "We emphasize quality over quantity. That's always been our policy. What happened last year had nothing to do with it."

Pickard said the reason that the numbers are up locally is that there were three new agents 18 months ago that had to be paired with experienced agents. Now, they can act independently.

He also said the newer agents have brought an aggressiveness and eagerness to work their areas zealously.

"They are really working hard," he said. "All of our agents are."

Statewide, the division arrested 1,632 people from July through December, an increase of 118 percent compared to the same period a year ago when 747 arrests were made. The agency issues liquor licenses, enforces liquor and tobacco laws and collects about $30 million annually in licensing fees.

The 1,632 arrests included 947 citations for minors in possession of alcohol, 303 tickets for minors possessing tobacco products and 176 citations for use of false identification. Locally, there were 79 arrests for liquor violations and 15 arrests for minors in possession of tobacco. That's up from the entire fiscal 2002, which saw only 80 arrests -- 75 for alcohol, five for tobacco.

Steve Shimmens, acting chief of enforcement for the state, said the division's 46 agents have been more aggressive by staking our areas where young people congregate.

"I'm not sure if this situation has gotten worse or we're out there more. It's hard to put a finger on it," Shimmens said. "The numbers surprised us."

Working together

Locally, liquor control is working more closely with other agencies, Pickard said. Last month, they worked with the university's Department of Public Safety and Cape Girardeau Police Department, busting a keg party at a Cape Girardeau residence where students were drinking alcohol after paying a $5 door fee and then buying $1 shots.

Area establishments that serve alcohol said they are glad the liquor control division is around.

"It helps me to control underage people trying to get in here," said Alfred McCain, owner of Mac's Tavern in Cape Girardeau. "I appreciate what they're trying to do. Serving to minors can lead to problems, and I don't want problems."

Broussard's owner Shawn Stockard said they help with setting up licenses and pretty much leave his business alone, he guesses because of his strict carding policy. He does resent getting violations for someone else's actions.

"If some kid comes in here with a fake ID and we can't tell, why should we get a violation?" Stockard said. "They need to be a little lenient and go toward the person committing the violation as opposed to the restaurant. If a kid wants to drink, he's going to drink."

Hess, who owns Breakaways, said after his incident, he stopped allowing 18-year-olds and became a 21-and-over bar.

"Now we don't deal with minors at all," he said. "I heard the government wanted to eliminate liquor control. I don't want to see that happen. I think they do a good job."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137