Monday evening 09/26/11 the Lee’s Summit Police Department conducted a quarterly liquor control “sting” operation within the city. The “sting” targeted retail establishments responsible for following municipal and state law regarding the sale of alcohol to minors. A total of twenty-four businesses were checked, with four clerks being cited for an illegal sale.

During the operation an underage decoy will enter the business and attempt to purchase alcohol while wearing recording equipment to verify actions of both the decoy and business clerk. The business clerk plays an important role in preventing underage alcohol consumption by completing one task, and that is verifying the age of the purchaser. If the business clerk refuses to sell then management receives a letter congratulating them on the appropriate action of their employee.
If an illegal sale is made a detective with the Special Investigative Unit will enter the business after the decoy exits and issue a citation for the sale of alcohol to a minor. The clerk has the primary responsibility for verifying age which is why they receive the citation and not the business. If repeated violations do occur at a particular business Missouri State Liquor Control may initiate disciplinary action against the businesses liquor license.

Citations were issued to store clerks at convenience stores in the 1600 block of NE Douglas Street (Valero), 900 block of NE Colbern Rd (Rush Hour #3), 5000 block of NE Lakewood Way (Gas Mart USA) and the 1300 block of SW Market (Phillip’s Fuel Mart).