Story Published: Jun 1, 2010 at 7:22 PM MDT
Story Updated: Jun 1, 2010 at 8:30 PM MDT
Starting Tuesday, June 1, county law enforcement officers are gearing up to crack down. According to Bonneville Youth Development Council 37% of our youth ages 12 to 18 report having attended a party within the last year where kids their age were drinking.
"As an adult we are pretty naive to think its not going on. Even though it's not in our face on a daily basis I think it's probably a lot bigger problem then we know of," says Tayson Webb, a county resident.
"We're starting to see a lot of youth parties over the weekend, either at home or in the foothills," says Sergeant Doug Metcalf, Bonneville County Sheriff's Office.
Just Tuesday, the county received a grant of nearly $4,500 from the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections and Commission. All of it will be used to better enforce underage drinking laws.
"We're going to be sending out officers over the weekend and throughout the week looking for parties. We will take youth into a store to see if the clerk will actually sell them alcohol. We're going to have youth though out the community in front of stores asking the public to go in and purchase alcohol for them," explains Metcalf.
The undercover youth will be at any store at anytime. If you are approached to buy an underage drinker alcohol, think twice, if you do you will be arrested.
"Any adult that is helping youth make choices that they shouldn't, should be arrested. I hope that this will improve our community and make it a better place to raise our children," says Webb.
Another problem in Bonneville County is the common perception many parents have that it's okay for underage kids to drink in their homes as long as they are not on the streets. The sheriff's office warns that this is still illegal and fines and penalties will follow.
The county will be performing the undercover operations starting June 1, 2010 through March 2011.