State eyes drinking at games Tuesday, August 31, 2004 KIM CHANDLER News staff writer MONTGOMERY - Football fans aren't the only ones descending on college towns this weekend.
More than a third of the state's alcohol enforcement agents are, too. Uniformed officers with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will be assigned Friday and Saturday to state-run liquor stores near stadiums where Auburn University, the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham will be playing their season openers, events that coincide with the Labor Day holiday weekend. ABC's Lt. Jeff Rogers said the effort is a way to discourage underage people from trying to buy liquor. Agents also will be focusing on crowd control and combating shoplifting in the stores, which often are packed with boisterous customers on football Saturdays. The massive manpower push will involve 35 to 40 enforcement officers, Rogers said, one or two of whom will be assigned to each of the stores near the stadiums in Auburn, Tuscaloosa and in Birmingham near Legion Field. The agency has about 95 enforcement agents. The agency has done similar enforcement operations during Christmas and other holidays, but never for football games, Rogers said. The football/Labor Day push was the idea of ABC Administrator Emory Folmar. When he was mayor of Montgomery, Folmar developed a tough-on-crime reputation, even carrying a holstered pistol for a time. The department might continue the operation throughout football season. "Really, this weekend is the test weekend," Rogers said. "We're going to have to wait and see how it turns out." Rogers said the department initially intended to keep the operation secret. John Matson, deputy press secretary for Gov. Bob Riley, said the governor was aware of the operation and approved. "The governor wants to do anything he can to make our highways safer," he said. Matson and Rogers said the operation shouldn't cost the state extra money because agents will take off during the week to compensate for working the weekend. While Christmas is the season to be jolly, Labor Day and football time apparently are the seasons to be tipsy, at least according to ABC sales. "Labor Day is right up there. And these particular stores, because of the opening day of football, there's a tremendous amount of people in those stores," Rogers said. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup! To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net New AOL.com addresses are NOT allowed on this list. Get a real ISP.
