I don't know if this topic has come up before. I am looking for advice or information about Mpls. police liquor license enforcement.
My friend owns a small ethnic restaurant in S. Mpls. Their revenue is predominately from food, but they offer service of beer, wine and liquor, and have a small bar that seats 8. I have been there hundreds of times and never seen them serve a minor or someone visibly intoxicated. The police have sent in �decoys� to test their carding procedures 4 times in the last 22 months, and they failed 3 times (and passed once) and are facing a suspension of their license. These are good, hard- working, honest people. I�d be willing to bet these were the only instances of under-age service during that period, it just does not often happen there. Two times the servers asked for ID but calculated the age incorrectly; one time the manager (and owner�s sister) came upon someone at the bar at an odd hour, and served him a beer without checking I.D., all dumb mistakes. They were fined $1500 per offense (the restaurant paid and provided legal representation) and individuals were charged with gross misdemeanors serving alcohol to a minor. The manager spent a week in court and had the charges dropped. The city has said they intend to retry her case. The city attorney says their job is to �aggressively prosecute all crimes that occur in the city�; apparently not to work constructively with citizens and business owners to ensure compliance in a way that doesn�t threaten their livelihoods. The city council regulatory services committee is Biernat, Niziolek, Colvin-Roy, Zerby, Zimmermann and Johnson. I really don�t know what their role is in defining enforcement procedures. I called the police asking about enforcement procedures, and they just referred me to legal statutes. The enforcement doesn�t seem fair. I have heard they don�t send decoys to test the metrodome, for example, although I don�t know if this is true and don�t really know how to find out. I have heard of similar stories from other small restaurants. It seems to me they could start by observing a restaurant's business procedures to see if they serve minors or visibly intoxicated patrons before they try to trick them into serving a minor. Or even help them with staff training materials, a sign with a birthdate reminder, etc. Does anyone have advice or experience? My friend's restaurant is facing serious, and in my opinion undeserved, hardship. Nikki Carlson Linden Hills _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
