Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Inc. has expressed concern about a report that half of the vendors of alcoholic beverages at its May festival sold illegally to minors.
The Long Beach Police Department said that undercover officers working with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control staged a “Minor Decoy” operation on the grounds of the Long Beach festival on May 17 and 18.
“Minors under the age of 21, under the supervision of ABC, attempted to purchase alcohol from the alcohol distribution points,” the police department said in a press release. “Over half of the distribution points sold alcohol to the minors.”
The police department said it shut down alcoholic beverage sales an hour early at the festival and made a total of 60 arrests for alcohol-related offenses.
Long Beach Pride noted that those 60 arrests were made outside the festival grounds at Marina Green Park and Rainbow Lagoon in adjacent parking garages, along the parade route and on city streets.
Long Beach Pride said it “considers the safety of those in attendance as a priority. With an event of this magnitude come many responsibilities and at the top of the list is a responsible alcohol distribution practice.”
The organization said that this year it had hired security workers trained in a ” Responsible Beverage Service” program approved by ABC.
“The beverage stations that failed in the decoy operation are of great concern to our leadership team and will be discussed further in the post event meeting with city agencies and ABC where all details will be made available to us,” Long Beach Pride said. “Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Inc. has and will continue to work with city and federal Agencies to ensure that the laws governing alcohol sales and consumption are strictly enforced.”
I’m a little torn on this. On one hand, I think it’s fair to enforce ABC rules and public safety is important. But was there a complaint in past years about underage drinking? Was the LB Pride event singled out by the LB police department? To set up a two-day “minor decoy” operation had to cost some significant resources, so I hope it was worth it. Is there a detailed breakdown of those 60 alcohol-related arrests (all outside the festival area). How many were minors? Or were these just the usual kind of adult-consumption/fights/passed out/public mess arrests that come with… Read more »
Because Budwiesser makes me sick, I’m a big Coors drinker, I did not have to get a wrist band to prove my age. But it appeared L.B. Pride was doing a pretty good job while I was at the festival. In addition to wrist bands they had securirty cops at the entrance to the alchol lines.
NOTE: Coors is now produced by the same company that produces Millers. It’s time the gay community educate it’s self and sell a quality beer at it’s festivals.