BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana State Excise Police officers arrested 26 people on 34 charges during tailgating at Indiana University’s home football game Saturday.
Excise officers were working Saturday’s game as part of the state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission’s continuing efforts to reduce underage drinking in Indiana.
22 people were arrested for illegal possession or consumption of alcohol. 4 were also cited for possession of false ID. 2 adults were arrested for furnishing alcohol to a minor.
2 people were arrested for resisting law enforcement and one for public intoxication. 3 people were also charged with various other offenses.
This weekend’s enforcement efforts in Bloomington are part of the Intensified College Enforcement, or ICE, initiative – itself part of a multi-year effort by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission to reduce underage drinking. The ICE initiative – launched February 2012 at I.U. – follows other programs by the ATC aimed at underage access to and use of alcoholic beverages.
After two years of gathering statistical data and establishing program protocols, in April 2009 the ATC embarked on a state-wide alcohol-compliance-check initiative, called the Survey for Alcohol Compliance or SAC. When the program began, nearly 40% of alcoholic-beverage outlets were willing to sell alcohol to minors. Now, only 5.5% of businesses are willing to sell alcohol to minors – a significant drop in the availability of alcohol to minors.
In January 2010, the state’s mandatory server-training program was launched to ensure those selling alcoholic beverages had training in how to recognize false IDs and deal appropriately with underage or intoxicated customers. Now, all package-store clerks and alcohol servers at restaurants and bars have the necessary training to catch underage customers trying to buy alcohol.
As the enforcement division of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, the primary mission of the Indiana State Excise Police is to promote public safety by enforcing Indiana’s Alcoholic Beverage Code. While excise officers have the authority to enforce any state law, they focus primarily on alcohol, tobacco and related laws.