By Elizabeth Hill
The Utah Department of Public Safety pays teens to barhop, dine out and purchase alcohol at convenience stores, but these alcohol-selling venues say it''s at their facility''s expense.
Amber, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her identity, gets paid $10.52 an hour to go out with a partner and catch, on tape, facilities that sell alcohol to under-age teens.
Amber has been a covert undercover buyer since she was 16.
'The first time I was really nervous because I wasn''t sure what to do,' said Amber, now 18. 'I didn''t know if the would yell at us or get mad at us for trying to order alcohol. But, it gets fun after a while because you know what you''re supposed to do.'
Amber, who got involved in the program through her father, a member of law enforcement, said she was shocked the first time she was sold alcohol.
'I was trying to think of why they would do it,' Amber said. 'I was 16 and thought there was no way I was going to get sold to, but I did.'
Covert Underage Buyers, also known as CUBs among local law enforcement, travel all over the state to catch facilities selling alcohol to under-age teens.
Amber said she spent spring break last year in St. George, hitting up Chevron stations around the area. Word got out that the CUBs were in town, but Amber was still sold alcohol.
'I went and got a six-pack and took it to the counter,' Amber said. 'They checked my ID, handed it back to me and sold me the alcohol.'
Sgt. Dan Catlin, who goes out on most CUB operations, said the program has been running for more than four years. The Department of Public Safety has found that 20 to 25 percent of all Utah facilities sell alcohol to under-age teens.
Catlin added that all CUBs are trained before they go out in the field in order to avoid entrapment law violations.
According to Catlin, the teens the department uses are between the ages of 16 and 19 and look young for their age. The CUBs are not allowed to entice anyone to sell them alcohol and must use their real, state-issued drivers license when asked to present ID.
'If we have 20 to 25 percent sales to kids that are completely honest, you know the percentage of kids who lie and get alcohol must be a lot higher,' Catlin said.
The CUBs are armed with buttonhole cameras, purchased with a $9,000 grant, and microphones. These tools allow the Department of Public Safety to catch facilities in the act of selling and to have hard evidence to present in court. CUBs usually hit between 10 and 15 facilities in an area per night.
Catlin said once the under-age teens are sold alcohol, an agent walks in and writes a citation to the person who sold the alcohol and to the facility. The facilities can be fined up to $25, 000 and receive up to a five-day suspension of its liquor license.
Recently, Bennett''s Bar-B-Que and Steakhouse and Salsa Leedos passed the Department of Public Safety''s test with flying colors, but management of the facilities say they are not exactly ecstatic about the test.
Travis Bonino, owner of Salsa Leedos said he has mixed emotions about the program.
'I know there is no way to check unless they send people in, but I also feel like I''m just getting set up,' Bonino said. 'I think they should spend the money on education for minors instead of setting up businesses.'
Bonino also said he thinks the fines issued by law enforcement should be given to the server who serves the alcohol and not the facility.
'It''s unfair that if one of my servers serves to a minor that I lose my liquor license for five days,' Bonino said, 'If I''d have had a different sever at that table I could have been screwed.'
Pete Fella, manager at Bennett''s Bar-B-Que and Steakhouse said the Department of Public Safety sends in teens that look older than they are.
'They stack all the cards in their favor,' Fella said. 'Checking up on us is fine, but setting us up is not.'