The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department participated in a shoulder tap operation over the past weekend in an effort to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors.

The operations, which is spearheaded by the California State Department of Alcohol Beverage Control resulted in five arrests, according to the sheriff’s department.

The Decoy Shoulder Tap Program is an enforcement operation that uses minor decoys to identify people who furnish alcoholic beverages to minors outside ABC licensed establishments.

On March 11, during a six hour “Shoulder Tap” operation deputies from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, using minor age decoys went to four ABC licensed locations throughout Stanislaus County. The decoys made 37 attempts to purchase alcoholic beverages from people outside these businesses. Five people purchased alcoholic beverages for the minor decoys.
These individuals were arrested for the violations and released on a citation to appear in Superior Court.

Two of the arrests were made outside a Denair establishment and three were made in Modesto, said Deputy Patrick McCulloch, who coordinated the operation locally.

The local operation was part of a state-wide effort by the ABC that led to 420 arrests. It is a misdemeanor to furnish alcoholic beverages to minors and any persons observed furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors are subject to arrest.