11 Ottawa County stores caught selling alcohol to minors in latest sting

Clerks in 11 of 138 stores checked in a recent sting sold alcohol to underage buyers, officials with the Ottawa County Health Department said today.

[alashieve]

What a waste of resources. State is running in the red and we waste our time on silly stuff like this.

[Mongoose]

I agree alashieve. I don't know how police stings like this and for prostitution hold up in court. They are nothing but entrapment. If a civilian does that, it's called fraud.

I guess the law does not apply to the law enforcers. Big surprise there eh?

[anotherreader]

but, if stores were not tested and held accountable what would stop them from selling? They'd want to be the place who sells to minors so they could attract more business... a new niche in the market.

should stores only be accountable is a minor is arrested for drinking, hospitalized or killed?

Should police stop enforcing traffic laws (speeding, dui, seatbelt etc.) and only ticket those crash? Or maybe ticket the families of the dead.

[Mongoose]

anotherreader; I hear what you are saying, but go spend 10 minutes at any of the lights on 31 and count the number of red light runners. This is HUGE contributor to accidents and fatalities. Holland must get a reputation for being the city to NOT run a red light. Believe me the word would get around quickly. And it only takes 1 officer to do that and he is already on the force and being paid.

With the sting, we must pay the minors to go in and buy the liquor, then pay the cop or probably cops to go in and write the citation. Then there are the sworn depositions for court and other administrative duties.

If you want to do stings, arrest and put hefty fines on the dangerous red light runners and use the fines to finance the stings. Use the penalties on one infraction to finance another law enforcement activity.

[alashieve]

I personally think drinking ages smack of big government. I have a novel idea how about parents regulating whether their children drink or not.

[Mongoose]

Good idea, alashieve, but kids are the final authority on whether or not they drink. Very few parents have much, if any, say in what their kids do when they are away from the home.

[Ann Botsis]

I am the wife of the owner of Southside Party Store, in Holland. Numerous news sources are reporting our business as being "non-compliant" but this is not accurate. For the record, this sting happened in September, and the police have chosen to officially drop all charges (we did not allow a sale to a minor as was initially claimed). The Health Department, however, insisted that since we were initially cited, our name would remain in this report.

[Barfly]

Police departments have become revenue generation machines for their own budgets.
rarely do police serve or protect any longer, they spend most of their time enforcing codes.

Zero tolerance allows cops to seize a home,property and cash because they find a pot seed under the sofa.
It all comes down to money

[Ian]

Yur'darn tootin' Barfly.
(aka... Yuppers)

[Ian]

Or changed-repealled-nullified-nu etard-decapitated-expunched-di sembowelirated or just plain got rid uh.

[bonds77]

I think Don should offer his daughter a beer in celebration.

[alashieve]

Bonds, parents ought to be the ones who introduce their children to proper alcohol use. I bought a case of beer last December and still have 2 or three beers in the house if parents model responsible alcohol use the children will take notice.
I don't have a daughter bonds for the record.

[Ian]

I could NEVER leave boose sitting around.
It's made to drink... So DRINK IT!!!

[Zeelander]

I was surprised to see Southside listed. They card everyone, including me(wow), it's stated clearly on their doors.

[Bobo]

You're an idiot. If the store owners don't want to get in trouble, they shouldn't sell to minors.

Mongoose wrote:

I agree alashieve. I don't know how police stings like this and for prostitution hold up in court. They are nothing but entrapment. If a civilian does that, it's called fraud.
I guess the law does not apply to the law enforcers. Big surprise there eh?

[Bobo]

"HUGE contributor?" Give us numbers. Prove your claim.

Mongoose wrote:

anotherreader; I hear what you are saying, but go spend 10 minutes at any of the lights on 31 and count the number of red light runners. This is HUGE contributor to accidents and fatalities. Holland must get a reputation for being the city to NOT run a red light. Believe me the word would get around quickly. And it only takes 1 officer to do that and he is already on the force and being paid.
With the sting, we must pay the minors to go in and buy the liquor, then pay the cop or probably cops to go in and write the citation. Then there are the sworn depositions for court and other administrative duties.
If you want to do stings, arrest and put hefty fines on the dangerous red light runners and use the fines to finance the stings. Use the penalties on one infraction to finance another law enforcement activity.

[Bobo]

You personally don't think.

alashieve wrote:

I personally think drinking ages smack of big government. I have a novel idea how about parents regulating whether their children drink or not.

[Bobo]

You're an idiot. Don't commit the crime, and your local PD won't get a dime.

Barfly wrote:

Police departments have become revenue generation machines for their own budgets.
rarely do police serve or protect any longer, they spend most of their time enforcing codes.
Zero tolerance allows cops to seize a home,property and cash because they find a pot seed under the sofa.
It all comes down to money