The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About0390.091, - ~,.,.' 'v-, '""'. ," '-.. August 29, 1991. THE HOnoAABLE CITY COUNC1L Palo Alto, California Members of the Council: JUVlNILZ PARTI.ES ~rt in Brief' This is an informational report and no council action is required. During: the last two years, some Bay Area cities have enacted -juvenile party" ordinances. The associated publicity and the general public perception that a similar ordinance might be appropriate pro:rnpted staff to explore tne possibility of implementing such legislation in Palo Alto. With the end of another suruner and the beginning of a ne\ol sch,?ol :rear I staff believes it is important to share this information ~ith the Council. After a revie~ of the decisional law and the legislative his~ory of existent statutes, stafr concluded that current laws are adequate for enforce,ment p\lrpos~s and that local gO'T6:Lnments are most likely precluded by preemption from devising further criminal or civil sanctions on juvenile alcohol consumption. This report provides a brief history of juvenile parties in Palo Alto, sum.mar-izes the legal cor.side~a.tions and ava.ilable enforcement tools~ and concludes that ade~uate mechanisms a~e already in place to handle problem parties. scope of ~~e Problem During calendar years 1989 and 1990, as the result of cvmplaints from neighbors, police responded to 52 parties involvin9 juveniles in Palo Alto. Year-to-date, 1991, police have been called to only seven reported parties. The number of reported parties is sig nificantly less than t~ose reported to agencies ~ho adopted juvenile ordinances~ The size of the parties in Palo Alto ranged from 4 to lDO participant5~ and the use of alcohol ",'as involved the majority of the time. Most incidents occurred during late spring and summer-months~ Police enfarcement efforts have resulted in arrests of juveniles for being drunk in P"dblic and minors in possession, arrests of adults for providing alconol, notification of parents, confiscation of alcohol and the shutting down of the parties~ With one e)(ception~ police personnel needed only one response to handle the situation~ 0!R:J90:91 .. ;. , -:f., ': .. : ";;. ~e~. -_;;.: -·{~:';i/~· . -, '-. ~ ".,--.. '~¥f#:!f}~/~ ·w~~~r - o Page Tw-o ~eg.l con.i~.r.tions Extensiv-e research ... as conducted by the City Attorney's office into the legal options for addressing the enforcement problems presented by juvenile par-ties ~here alcohol is consumed4 other ordinances that typically were developed to create new criminal penal ties and/or cost recovery sanctions on hos,ts and participants of these parties were also reviewed. The research revealed a confusing pattern of statutory and decisional laW'" that constrains local options for dealing with the problem. While the primary purpose of most local legislation relative to this issue appears to be the addition of "lIore criminal and civil deterrence for hosts of parties# the research did not yield any evIdence that the legisla ture intended for local agencies to devise addjtional sanctions for hosts cf juvenil~ parties over and above current state statutes. Additio~ally, the reception by California courts to police agencies' efforts to recoup response costs has not been positivE. Unless a state statut-e speci ficalll' provides for e1lJergency response recovery# similar to driving under the il"l.fluencc related accidents, the courts have been unwilling to allow it. pistinq Statutes A variety of measures are presently available via both state law and municipal ordinance to adequately deal with juvenile related alcohol consumption. Police are empowered to take enforcement actions in the following situations: whenever a person sells, furnishes or gives any alcoholic beverage to anyone undRr 21 years; whenever someone under 21 years purchases any alcoholic beverages; \Jhenever some-one under 21 years preser;ts a sellEr of alcoholic beverages 'With any fraudulent evidence of identity for the purpose of buying an alcoholic beverage; whenever a person under .21 years has any alcoholic beverage in his/her possession in any public place or place open to the public; whenever 10 or more juveniles under 21 are present at a social gathering and are -,;onsuming alcotlolic beverages ,",here there is no supervision of the social gathering by a parent or guardian of one or more of the participants; whenever noise or other disturbances ~arrant police action. CMR~390:91 • -' .... '~~ _. . o Page Three For the last three years, the Police Department, ~ith assistance from the State Alcoholic Bevera~e Control ,ABC) department, has conducted alcohol decoy programs durinq the SUmliIer months~ Under age decoys are sent into all 41 commercial establishments in the City that have off-sale alcohol permits to doeterllline if alcohol sales are made to minors. The establishments receiv~ prior notifi cation of the program. Last year, nine establishltl.ents were cited tor selling to minors. ContinlJal violations by these establish ments result in ABC's revocation of their off-sale permits. The next program is scheduled to occur in the next fev weeks. Edycational Program' -Parental AS5i'tanc~ Police Depart~ent staff, together with assistance from the SChool District and the PTA, are continually involved .... ith aduca:tional efforts aimed at both parents and students reg~rdinq substance abuse. The follo~inq is a summary of the programs: 1-. Bobar Graduation -This year all high schools in the City partiCipated in the Sober Graduation Campaign t~at is ~ponsored by the National Traffic S3fety Institute. Presen tations concerning sober graduation !Jere incluced in the senior assemblies, and journalism students from each school reported on their attendance at the reality check day. 2. Juvenile Law Series -Each eighth grade student attends a juver.ile l.aw class in which the use of alcohol~ especially at parties, and the ccn5equences are discussed. 3. Divar.ioD pr~.ZI -All first time offenders of minor alcohol related violations attend a si)(-'Week counselling program. through the community Health A~aren~$S Council~ ... parelliJiltud:ept Meatings -Nur..erous meetings have been held in cooperation with ~he School District for the purpose of pro~ viding students and parents "'ith the opportunity to discuss the problem of alcohol use by young people. 5. J(emoranl!WI of t1!1I!h~_~stJ~.ncHllg -For the last se-"eral years, the Police Department and the Scnool District have had a Memoran dum of Understanding (MOUl concerning alcohol and drug use by Palo Alto stl.ldents~ The MOU allows the sharing of information that is necessa~y to daal with these problems consistently~ firmly and in a timely fashion~ ,. Preparing tor the O;,yq Free Y2:srs Cp&_:rental componect~ - During a mUlti-session program, parents are provided instruc tion on enhancing their parenting skilis l especially as they pertain to the use of alcohol and drugs. C>!R:)90:91 \ ! : I .. - page Fcur Parental Involvement is a necessary adjunct to any enforcement action taken by police personnel~ Parents of juveniles are routinely notified when police contact their sons/daughters about any alcohol-related incident. Repre.sentatives from the police Department and the Cit.y Attorney recently ~et with leaders of the Palo Alto PTA to discuss juvenile use of alcohol, entorcement at social g3therings and the efficacy of a juvenile party ordinances. copcluaioD. Staff believes that current la ..... s, together-with eoucation and awareness programs, are adequate mechanisms for dea11~9 with the use of alcohol by minors. The Police Oepartment will continue promptly respo~din9 to complaints and using these enforcement tools to deter juvenile arinking ~nd problem pa~ties. Respectfully submitted, ......... ~ f~r',.... :,_1_. "-<~ I ... · LYNiik JOHNsON Assistant Police Chief CMR:390:91 L "",