Texas Alcoholic Buzzkill Council

TABC plans undercover stings at alcohol retailers
By Robin Pyle | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

The law may be watching the next time you check out with that six-pack of beer or bottle of vodka.

And you'll never know that the guy who looks like a store employee or another shopper is an alcohol enforcement agent unless you are underage, selling to or buying illegally for minors.

A Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission official said the agency has plans for numerous undercover sting operations to make sure residents and stores comply with the laws.

"You'll never know where we're going to be," Lt. Brian Williams warned.

So far, there have no big problems.

"Sales have already started and we haven't in the last day or so seen anything that has caused any concern for the police department," said assistant police chief Thomas Esparza.

But officials want to make sure significant problems don't arise.

Their focus will be on enforcing laws related to minors, as the agency hopes to send a message to teens early on to prevent problems.

"They'll be testing the waters to see what stores will sell to them," Williams said.

The agency generally does at least two stings a month targeting minors. It also plans to send minors into stores to see if a clerk will sell alcohol to them.

Another undercover operation the agency will conduct is "Cops in Shops." Agents pose as customers or employees and watch for alcohol violations.

In addition to undercover stings, Williams said, officers go on routine patrol, watching for violations and suspicious activity.

A common situation that might draw attention would be a group of "young looking people" waiting in a car as an "older looking" person goes in to buy beer, Williams said.

Officers also will be looking for people who drink on the site of an off-premise retailer, which is illegal.

If officers see suspicious activity at a particular store, they may stop there or set up surveillance, Williams said. The agency has night-vision goggles, which can be used to watch from afar.

Can the TABC not just let the college kids be happy for a full week before they start pissing on everyone else's good time? I don't know what it is about being back in West Texas but I still feel like I'm 17 when I I'm getting drunk, like the TABC is going to bust in and write me an MIP. And with their night vision goggles, how could they miss me? Seriously, night vision goggles to stop underage drinking? You've got to be kidding me.

And what's with the cops name? Brian Williams? After the taser cop from Tour de Tech Terrace was named Jon Stewart I'm convinced law enforcement in Lubbock are all using newsmen names as aliases.