Three Enfield retailers failed liquor compliance checks conducted over the weekend by agents of the Department of Consumer Protection's Liquor Control Division and the Enfield Police Department.
Liquor control agents and Enfield police officers tested 22 package stores and grocery stores Saturday afternoon. 19 stores passed the compliance check, but three failed by selling alcohol to the volunteer underage youth trained and provided by the Governor's Prevention Partnership, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the DCP.
The stores that were cited during the compliance check are:
- Stop and Shop, 54 Hazard Avenue
- Good Times Package Store, 79 Pearl Street
- Enfield Liquor Warehouse, 496 Enfield Street
During a compliance check, an underage individual enters a business and attempts to purchase alcohol. If asked for identification, the individual hands over their actual ID, showing them to be underage, according to Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein.
“Compliance operations are consistently useful in helping us identify licensed or permitted locations that are selling alcoholic beverages to minors,” Rubenstein said in the news release. He added that the compliance checks are not intended to hurt local businesses, however.
“We don’t try to trick or entice establishments to sell alcoholic beverages to youth,” Rubenstein said in the release. “Our goal is to find businesses that sell to minors and bring them into compliance with state liquor laws.”
The three businesses cited in the compliance check are charged with allegedly selling liquor to a minor and will appear before the Liquor Control Commission for an administrative hearing, at which time the charges will be addressed.
“Partnering with state and local law enforcement on these checks benefits everyone involved,” Rubenstein said. “I want to express our sincere thanks to the Enfield Police Department for their continuing efforts to reduce underage drinking within their community.”
