Underage Drinking
Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Series number 27

By
Kelly Dedel Johnson


Center for Problem Oriented Policing
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www.PopCenter.org

 Web-enhanced versions of all currently available Guides 
 Interactive training exercises 
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 On-line problem analysis module


Designed for police and those who work with them to 
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Supported by the Office of Community Oriented Policing 
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Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 
Problem-Specific Guides Series 
Guide No. 27 

Underage Drinking


Kelly Dedel Johnson 

This project was supported by cooperative agreement 
#2002CKWX0003 by the Office of Community Oriented Policing 
Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein 
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the 
official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. 

www.cops.usdoj.gov 

ISBN: 1-932582-39-8 

September 2004 


About the Problem-Specific Guides Series 

The Problem-Specific Guides summarize knowledge about 
how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime 
and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and 
to improving the overall response to incidents, not to 
investigating offenses or handling specific incidents. The 
guides are written for policeof whatever rank or 
assignmentwho must address the specific problem the 
guides cover. The guides will be most useful to officers 
who 

 Understand basic problem-oriented policing 
principles and methods. The guides are not primers in 
problem-oriented policing. They deal only briefly with 
the initial decision to focus on a particular problem, 
methods to analyze the problem, and means to assess 
the results of a problem-oriented policing project. They 
are designed to help police decide how best to analyze 
and address a problem they have already identified. (An 
assessment guide has been produced as a companion to 
this series and the COPS Office has also published an 
introductory guide to problem analysis. For those who 
want to learn more about the principles and methods of 
problem-oriented policing, the assessment and analysis 
guides, along with other recommended readings, are 
listed at the back of this guide.) 

 Can look at a problem in depth. Depending on the 
complexity of the problem, you should be prepared to 
spend perhaps weeks, or even months, analyzing and 
responding to it. Carefully studying a problem before 
responding helps you design the right strategy, one that 
is most likely to work in your community. You should 
not blindly adopt the responses others have used; you 
must decide whether they are appropriate to your local 
situation. What is true in one place may not be true 



elsewhere; what works in one place may not work 
everywhere. 

 Are willing to consider new ways of doing police 
business. The guides describe responses that other 
police departments have used or that researchers have 
tested. While not all of these responses will be 
appropriate to your particular problem, they should help 
give a broader view of the kinds of things you could do. 
You may think you cannot implement some of these 
responses in your jurisdiction, but perhaps you can. In 
many places, when police have discovered a more 
effective response, they have succeeded in having laws 
and policies changed, improving the response to the 
problem. 

 Understand the value and the limits of research 
knowledge. For some types of problems, a lot of useful 
research is available to the police; for other problems, little 
is available. Accordingly, some guides in this series 
summarize existing research whereas other guides illustrate 
the need for more research on that particular problem. 
Regardless, research has not provided definitive answers to 
all the questions you might have about the problem. The 
research may help get you started in designing your own 
responses, but it cannot tell you exactly what to do. This 
will depend greatly on the particular nature of your local 
problem. In the interest of keeping the guides readable, not 
every piece of relevant research has been cited, nor has 
every point been attributed to its sources. To have done so 
would have overwhelmed and distracted the reader. The 
references listed at the end of each guide are those drawn 
on most heavily; they are not a complete bibliography of 
research on the subject. 




 Are willing to work with other community agencies 
to find effective solutions to the problem. The police 
alone cannot implement many of the responses 
discussed in the guides. They must frequently implement 
them in partnership with other responsible private and 
public entities. An effective problem-solver must know 
how to forge genuine partnerships with others and be 
prepared to invest considerable effort in making these 
partnerships work. 

These guides have drawn on research findings and police 
practices in the United States, the United Kingdom, 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and 
Scandinavia. Even though laws, customs and police 
practices vary from country to country, it is apparent that 
the police everywhere experience common problems. In a 
world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is 
important that police be aware of research and successful 
practices beyond the borders of their own countries. 

The COPS Office and the authors encourage you to 
provide feedback on this guide and to report on your own 
agency's experiences dealing with a similar problem. Your 
agency may have effectively addressed a problem using 
responses not considered in these guides and your 
experiences and knowledge could benefit others. This 
information will be used to update the guides. If you wish 
to provide feedback and share your experiences it should 
be sent via e-mail to cops_pubs@usdoj.gov. 



For more information about problem-oriented policing, 
visit the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing online at 
www.popcenter.org or via the COPS website at 
www.cops.usdoj.gov. This website offers free online access to: 

 the Problem-Specific Guides series, 
 the companion Response Guides and Problem-Solving Tools 
series, 
 instructional information about problem-oriented policing 
and related topics, 
 an interactive training exercise,
 online access to important police research and practices,
and 
 on-line problem analysis module. 



Acknowledgments 

The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police are very much a 
collaborative effort. While each guide has a primary 
author, other project team members, COPS Office staff 
and anonymous peer reviewers contributed to each guide 
by proposing text, recommending research and offering 
suggestions on matters of format and style. 

The principal project team developing the guide series 
comprised Herman Goldstein, professor emeritus, 
University of Wisconsin Law School; Ronald V. Clarke, 
professor of criminal justice, Rutgers University; John E. 
Eck, professor of criminal justice, University of 
Cincinnati; Michael S. Scott, clinical assistant professor, 
University of Wisconsin Law School; Rana Sampson, 
police consultant, San Diego; and Deborah Lamm Weisel, 
director of police research, North Carolina State 
University. 

Karin Schmerler, Rita Varano and Nancy Leach oversaw 
the project for the COPS Office. Suzanne Fregly edited 
the guide. Research for the guides was conducted at the 
Criminal Justice Library at Rutgers University under the 
direction of Phyllis Schultze. 

The project team also wishes to acknowledge the members 
of the San Diego, National City and Savannah police 
departments who provided feedback on the guides' format 
and style in the early stages of the project, as well as the 
line police officers, police executives and researchers who 
peer reviewed each guide. 



Contents 

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series i
Acknowledgments v
The Problem of Underage Drinking 1
Related Problems 4
Factors Contributing to Underage Drinking 5
Why Underage People Drink 5
Environmental Reasons for Underage Drinking 7
How Underage Drinkers Obtain Alcohol 8
Where Underage Drinking Occurs 10
Understanding Your Local Problem 15
Asking the Right Questions 15
Offenders 16
Incidents 16
Environment 17
Alcohol Sources 17
Times/Locations 18
Special Events 19
Current Responses 19
Measuring Your Effectiveness 20
Responses to the Problem of Underage Drinking 23
General Considerations for an Effective Response Strategy 23
Specific Responses to Underage Drinking 26
Responses That Target the Motivation to Drink 26
Responses That Target Commercial Access to Alcohol 28
Responses That Target Social Access to Alcohol 35
Responses That Target Locations Where Drinking Occurs 36
Responses That Focus on the Consequences of Underage Drinking 41
Responses With Limited Effectiveness 43



Appendix: Summary of Responses to Underage Drinking 45
Endnotes 53
References 57
About the Author 67
Recommended Readings 69
Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 73



The Problem of Underage Drinking 

This guide begins by describing the problem of underage 
drinking, and reviewing factors that contribute to it. It  
then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze 
your local underage drinking problem. Finally, it reviews 
responses to the problem, and what is known about them 
from evaluative research and police practice. 

Young people use alcohol more than any other drug, 
including tobacco.1 Underage drinkingthat is, 
drinking under the age of 21is prohibited throughout 
the United  States. Despite a historical lack of vigorous enforcement, 
minimum-drinking-age laws have been very effective in 
reducing many of the harms associated with underage 
drinking,2 such as traffic fatalities and alcohol-related 
injuries, as well as assaults and other crimes. There is 
significant potential for further harm reduction if 
additional strategies targeting the factors underlying 
the problem are implemented. 


Virtually all high school students and most college  
students are under 21. However, most drink alcohol at  
least occasionally, and many drink frequently and heavily. 
They can get alcohol for free or at low prices, which  
contributes to their drinking at levels that significantly 
increase their risk of negative alcohol-related 
consequences.3 The proportion of underage youth who  
drink has not changed significantly over the past decade in 
the United States.4 Indeed, if anything, they are starting to
drink at a younger age, and their drinking patterns are 
becoming more extreme.5 

 There are many labels used to
describe underage drinking and its
negative consequences. These 
include "binge drinking," "high-risk 
drinking," "heaving drinking," and 
"risky drinking," among others. 
Controversy about proper 
terminology comes from 
disagreement about how to quantify 
the amount of alcohol consumed 
and the time period in which it is 
consumed, and to what extent these
measurements account for physical
characteristics of the drinker (e.g., 
weight, gender) that are related to 
the effects of alcohol. 

 There are several national efforts 
to combat the problem: see the 
Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention's 
"Enforcing the Underage Drinking 
Laws" program
(www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/compen 
dium/2001/contents.html), the 
Pacific Institute of Research and 
Evaluation website (www.udetc.org),
and the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation's "A Matter of Degree" 
program designed to discourage 
drinking on college
campuses(www.ama-
assn.org/ama/pub/category/3558.html).

 Recent surveys of U.S. high 
school and college students showed 
that one-half to three-quarters of 
high school students had tried 
alcohol (Johnston, O'Malley, and 
Bachman 2002) and two out of 
every three underage college 
students surveyed had drunk alcohol 
in the past 30 days (Wechsler 2001). 





Underage drinkers experience a wide range of alcohol-
related health, social, criminal justice, and academic 
problems. They do not all experience the same level of 
problemsthose who drink more, and drink more often, 
suffer a greater number of negative consequences. 
However, negative consequences occur across a wide range 
of consumption levels and frequencies. 

Young drinkers report a range of negative effects from 
alcohol, all of which can lead to troubled interactions with 
others, particularly police officers or other responsible 
adults who try to intervene.6 These include the following: 

 
Overconfidence and recklessness. Excessive drinking 
may cause people to act in ways they would normally 
consider unwise or inappropriate. 
 
Lack of awareness. As people become intoxicated, 
they may not be fully aware of what is happening, and 
may not be able to figure out how to react to situations 
appropriately. 
 
Aggression. Drinkers may misread cues from other 
people as being offensive, and react violently. 
 
Loss of control. Drinkers' motor skills may become 
impaired, and drinkers may also lose control of their 
emotions. 


These effects often lead young drinkers to come into 
contact with police, either as offenders or as victims. 
Youths who drink heavily are more likely to carry 
handguns than those who do not drink.7 Alcohol use 
contributes to property damage, rape, and other violent 
crime on college campuses,8 and about half of college 


crime victims have been drinking before the crime occurs.9 
A significant proportion of young drivers killed in car 
accidents are intoxicated when the crash occurs.10 


Further, underage college students who drink heavily are 
more likely to miss class, fall behind in school, sustain an
injury, have unplanned or unprotected sex, drive after drinking, 
or have contact with campus police., 11 Students 
also experience "secondhand" effects of others' alcohol 
misuse, such as having their sleep or study time 
interrupted; having to take care of an intoxicated friend; 
being insulted or humiliated by drinkers; receiving 
unwanted sexual advances; getting in serious arguments;  
having their personal property damaged; being assaulted,  
sexually or otherwise; and being raped by an 
acquaintance.12 There are also a number of physical and 
mental health-related consequences of alcohol use, which
are detailed elsewhere.

 While a number of studies reveal 
a correlation between alcohol 
consumption and negative or high-
risk behavior (e.g., violent behavior, 
unprotected sexual activity), this 
relationship does not necessarily
mean that alcohol causes these 
behaviors. Instead, there may be 
situational or personality factors
underlying both the drinking and the
high-risk behavior. For more 
information, see Gottfredson and 
Hirschi (1990).

 For example, see National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and 
Alcoholism (2000), and Institute of 
Alcohol Studies (2003).


David Corbett 

picture of police officer and juvenile
Despite widespread use, relatively few underage drinkers experience 
any legal or school-based consequences for their behavior. 



Very few college students experience any college-based 
disciplinary action as a result of their drinking, despite 
widespread use and serious consequences for the 
individuals, their peers, and their communities.13 The past 
decade has witnessed increased concern about and 
creativity in confronting the issue, and both adults and 
youths support measures to prevent underage drinking. 
Given the issue's complexity, it is important to understand 
how the problem takes shape in your community. 
Analyzing the factors that contribute to your local 
underage drinking problem will help you to select the 
most effective responses. 

Related Problems 

Underage drinking is associated with a number of other 
problems not directly addressed in this guide, but many 
are covered in other guides in this series. These related 
problems require their own analyses and responses: 

 drunken driving, 
 speeding in residential areas, 
 cruising, 
 disorderly conduct in public places, 
 assaults in and around bars, 
 acquaintance rape, 
 house parties, 
 rave parties, 
 vandalism, and 
 noise complaints in residential areas. 




Factors Contributing to Underage Drinking 

Understanding the factors that contribute to your problem 
will help you frame your own local analysis questions, 
determine good effectiveness measures, recognize key 
intervention points, and select appropriate responses. 

Why Underage People Drink 

Some researchers have found that drinking, particularly 
among underage college students, "is often so routine that 
people find it difficult to explain why they do it."14 
However, there are several common themes that appear to 
underlie underage drinking. Many see drinking as a "rite of 
passage," or a fundamental part of adolescence and 
college life. Young people develop beliefs about the 
acceptability of underage drinking from their peers, 
parents, and other agents of informal social control.15 
Many young people believe that drinking will make it 
easier to be part of a group, reduce tension, relieve stress, 
help them to forget their worries, increase their sexual 
attractiveness, or make them more socially confident.16 
People who attribute such benefits to alcohol are more 
likely to drink than people who believe drinking has more 
negative consequences (e.g., loss of control, legal troubles, 
health problems).17 

Young people often go out intending to get drunk, and 
may try to intensify their drunkenness by drinking a lot 
very quickly or drinking especially strong liquor. However, 
many young people unintentionally get drunk when they 
misjudge their limits.18 



Many young people do not drink at all, or drink at 
minimal levels. Their decision not to drink or to drink in 
moderation appears to result from a combination of 
factors:19 

 
Attachment. Young people with strong ties to family, 
friends, and significant others tend to drink less. They 
have close emotional ties with others, and care about 
others' expectations and opinions regarding their 
behavior. 
 
Commitment. Young people who invest significant 
amounts of time, energy, and resources in conventional 
activities such as studying, working, taking part in 
organized religion, and/or participating in clubs or 
athletics tend to drink less than students who are not 
so invested, perhaps because they have less time 
available for alcohol-focused activities. 
 
Belief. Young people who accept conventional values, 
obey society's rules, and respect authority tend to drink 
less than those who do not. 


In addition, much research suggests that young people 
college students in particulardrink because they assume 
everyone else does.20 Students consistently overestimate 
the amount that other students drink and the proportion 
of their fellow students who are heavy drinkers.21 Given 
that adolescents and young adults are susceptible to peer 
pressure and want to conform, it is likely that their 
perceptions of others' alcohol use influence their own 
drinking, whether or not their perceptions are correct. 



Environmental Reasons for Underage Drinking 

Underage drinking occurs in an environment saturated by 
alcohol advertising on television, on billboards, at sporting 
and music events, and in national and local newspapers. 
The alcohol industry spends far more to promote its 
products than is spent on public messages encouraging 
responsible drinking.22 This media saturation may promote, 
facilitate, and perpetuate heavy drinking among young 
people. In addition, many products (e.g., alcopops, wine 
coolers) have hip, colorful, youth-oriented packaging and 
are likely to appeal mainly to young people. 

In addition, young people, particularly those in college, are 
surrounded by outlets (e.g., grocery and convenience stores) 
that sell alcohol to be consumed elsewhere, or "off 
premises," as well as "on-premises" outlets such as bars and 
restaurants. High concentrations of alcohol outlets are 
associated with higher rates of heavy drinking and 
drinking-related problems among college students.23 

Alcohol outlets and advertisers team up to provide an 
additional incentive for underage drinking: price 
promotions and drink specials. In general, lower prices 
result in higher consumption levels across all age levels.24 
Price promotions offer discounts for high-volume 
purchases, such as kegs and cases of beer. College 
campuses near retailers that sell large volumes of low-price 
alcohol have higher rates of binge drinking than those 
campuses near outlets that do not sell discount alcohol.25 



Many bars and restaurants have discount prices (e.g., 
during happy hour) and drink specials (e.g., two for one, 
ladies drink free) that encourage heavy drinking among all 
customers, some of whom may be underage. 

David Corbett 
Image of ads for alcoholic beverages
Drink specials encourage heavy drinking among all customers, some 
of whom may be underage. 

Many high school and college students say that they attend 
parties or go out drinking because "there is nothing else to 
do." Like older adults, adolescents and young adults enjoy 
socializing and need a variety of avenues to interact with 
peers, make new friends, and pursue romantic 
relationships. In the absence of alcohol-free places to 
socialize, young people go to parties where alcohol is 
present, and may succumb to peer pressure to drink. 

How Underage Drinkers Obtain Alcohol 

Underage drinkers obtain alcohol from two main sources: 
third parties, such as legal-age friends, siblings, and 
strangers; and commercial outlets, such as stores, bars, and 
restaurants (often by using a fake ID).26 

Home is the primary source of alcohol among the 
youngest drinkers.27 Some youth take alcohol from their 
parents' liquor cabinets without their parents' knowledge. 



Some parents supply their underage children with alcohol 
at special events such as graduations, weddings, or holiday 
parties. 

Underage drinkers sometimes ask strangers to buy alcohol 
for them, often in exchange for a fee or a portion of the 
alcohol purchased. This practice is called "shoulder 
tapping"underage youth wait outside a store and tap a 
stranger on the shoulder to make the request.28 

Most underage drinkers report it is "very easy" to obtain 
alcohol; about one in four underage college students 
report that they can buy alcohol without age verification, 
or with a fake ID.29 Studies of alcohol purchases across the 
country reveal that, depending on the location and the 
environmental context, 40 to 90 percent of retail outlets 
have sold alcohol to underage buyers.30 

In some cases, retailers do not ask for ID. In others, 
underage drinkers present an ID card that has been altered 
to indicate they are of legal drinking age, or an ID card 
that belongs to someone who is of legal drinking age. The 
underage drinker may resemble the person in the 
photograph, or may substitute his or her own picture and 
relaminate the card. People can purchase fake IDs on the 
Internet, buy them directly from counterfeiters, or use 
fraudulent documents to get a driver's license. Recent 
advancements in technology have made the counterfeiting 
of state-issued ID cards easier, using a scanner and a color 
printer.31 Use of fake IDs is more common in urban areas 
and in states without consistent enforcement of underage 
purchase laws.32 Furthermore, young people are more likely 
to obtain and use a fake ID if they think their peers 
support the practice.33 



Where Underage Drinking Occurs 

Underage people drink at a variety of locations, including 
the following: 

 
Parties in private residences. Large numbers of 
young people may gather in a home, often while the 
parents are away, or in a college student's off-campus 
residence. Parties in residential areas often generate 
complaints from neighbors who are disturbed by noise, 
improper parking, property damage, and littering. Such 
parties are of particular concern to police because they 
often include large numbers of underage drinkers and 
large quantities of alcohol. If the hosts charge an entry 
fee, they are essentially selling alcohol without a license, 
often to guests who are not of legal drinking age. 
House parties are popular among both high school and 
college students, as well as underage nonstudents. 
College students who live off campus are more likely to 
attend house parties than those who live on campus, 
and underage drinkers are more likely to gain access to 
alcohol at house parties than in bars or restaurants.34 
 
Parties at outdoor venues such as beaches, parks, 
fields, or parking lots. The remoteness of these 
locations may reduce the chances that residents will be 
bothered, but also usually means that partygoers will 
have to drive home after drinking. These parties, like 
those in private residences, rarely provide nonalcoholic 
beverages or food to mitigate alcohol's intoxicating 
effects. 
 
College campuses. Many colleges and universities 
have on-campus bars and pubs, and social and athletic 
events at which alcohol sales are permitted. Of 
particular note is the high rate of underage and binge 




drinking that occurs at fraternity houses. Over the
years, fraternity membership has become closely
associated with heavy drinking, as part of social events,
pledging, and initiations.35 Most students who join
fraternities expect that alcohol will be central to their
experience, despite the fact that most are underage.36
The high levels of drinking associated with fraternities
are hazardous not only to members, but also to the
large number of underage college or high school guests
who regularly attend fraternity parties. Breaking up
these parties and identifying the responsible adult can
be particularly difficult for police.37


 Bars and restaurants. Older underage drinkers are 
more likely to drink in bars and restaurants.38 Their 
close proximity to campus and advertised drink 
promotions make these venues an attractive choice for 
off-campus underage drinking. Many colleges have out-
of-state students, requiring doormen or bartenders to 
judge the authenticity of driver's licenses with which 
they might not be familiar. 

David Corbett 
Iamge of underage drinkers
Excessive drinking is common at special 
events such as graduation, pre- or post-
semester parties, and spring break. 



 Special events. Many colleges and communities have 
special events that seem to encourage widespread, 
heavy drinking, such as homecoming, graduation, pre-
or post-semester parties, Halloween, Mardi Gras, and 
athletic events. Partly due to the large number of 
people present, and the failure of event planners to 
create specific "over 21 only" areas, underage people 
may have little difficulty getting alcohol through third-
party purchases and drinking it unnoticed. In some 
cases, supervising adults both expect and tolerate 
underage drinking. 

Spring break is a college ritual associated with excessive 
drinking and other high-risk, extreme behavior. One 
study of students visiting a Florida beach community 
during spring break found that 75 percent of the males 
reported being intoxicated at least once per day, while 
40 percent of females reported the same.39 More than 50 
percent of the men and more than 40 percent of the 
women reported drinking until they got sick or until 
they passed out at least once during the weeklong 
period. Given that people usually vomit when their 
body's blood alcohol content (BAC) reaches 
approximately 0.16, and lose consciousness at a BAC of 
approximately 0.30, it is clear that many students on 
spring break are drinking at unsafe levels.40 


In addition, high school and college students often play 
any of hundreds of drinking games.41 These games 
encourage heavy drinking, and the resulting inability to 
follow game rules leads to even more drinking. 

David Corbett 
picture of underage drinkers
Drinking games and traditions may encourage heavy drinking. 



Understanding Your Local Problem 

The information provided above is only a generalized 
description of underage drinking. You must combine the 
basic facts with a more specific understanding of your
local problem. Analyzing the local problem carefully will 
help you design a more effective response strategy. You 
will likely find that effective responses to combat underage 
drinking will also result in reductions in alcohol-related
crime such as drunken driving, assault, property damage,
and noise violations.


Asking the Right Questions 

The following are some critical questions you should ask 
in analyzing your particular underage drinking problem, 
even if the answers are not always readily available. Your 
answers to these and other questions will help you choose 
the most appropriate set of responses later on. Because 
police may not know how much underage drinking occurs 
in a community, you should use multiple information 
sources, including police records, juvenile police officers 
or school resource officers, state and local alcohol 
beverage control (ABC) records, school faculty, parents 
and parent advocate groups, underage drinkers, underage 
nondrinkers, and observations of youth, alcohol outlets, 
and areas where underage people drink. 

Further, it may be helpful for police to link with local 
colleges, universities, or researchers to design, test, and 
administer surveys for high school students, college 
students, and underage nonstudents. 

 Using survey questions similar to 
those in the most widely used
instruments, such as the College
Alcohol Survey or the Monitoring 
the Future study, will allow you to 
compare your jurisdiction's trends
with national trends.




Offenders 

 What proportion of high school students drink 
alcohol? 

 What proportion of local college/university students 
are underage? What percentage of them drink? How 
often? How much? 

 What reasons do they give for drinking? 

 What are underage drinkers' characteristics (e.g., age, 
occupation, gender, group affiliations)? What are 
underage nondrinkers' characteristics? Are there any 
differences in their characteristics that suggest 
opportunities for intervention? 

 Which alcoholic beverages do high school students 
prefer? Which do college students prefer? Which do 
underage nonstudents prefer? 

 Do underage people know what proportion of their 
peers drink, and how much? 

 Do underage people believe they can obtain and drink 
alcohol without being denied or apprehended? 

 What negative consequences of drinking do underage 
people fear (e.g., embarrassment from being refused 
alcohol in stores, hindrance to work or schooling, 
illness, injury, arrest)? 


Incidents 

 In what proportion of crimes and police service calls is 
underage drinking a significant contributing factor? 
(Note: Many police report forms do not capture this 
information in a way that permits computerized 
tabulation, so you may need to read a sample of reports 
to estimate this figure.) What, specifically, is the nature 
of the crimes and service calls? How, specifically, do 
you believe underage drinking has contributed to the 
incident? 



 How many alcohol-related deaths occur among those 
under 21 (e.g., car crash fatalities, drownings, suicides)? 

 How many underage drinking-related incidents result in 
an arrest? 

 How many citations, detentions, arrests, or other official 
interventions do police make for underage purchase 
drinking? What proportion of all incidences of 
underage drinking do you estimate result in some 
official intervention?


Environment 

 What types of alcohol advertising are present in the 
community? Newspaper ads? Billboards? Radio 
commercials? Do major alcohol manufacturers or 
distributors sponsor any community events or athletic 
events? How much of this advertising and promotion 
do you believe particularly targets underage people? 

 Which local retailers, bars, and restaurants advertise 
large-volume price discounts, drink specials, or other 
promotions? Where are these advertisements placed? 

 What types of alcohol-free opportunities to socialize 
are available to high school students? To 18- to 20-year-
olds? How are the events publicized? How many people 
attend? Which events are most popular? What reasons 
do young people give for not going? 


Alcohol Sources 

 Do underage youth obtain alcohol through parents, 
older siblings, or other relatives? 

 Do underage youth ask strangers to buy alcohol for 
them? Where do these transactions occur? Is a fee 
provided? What are the characteristics of the strangers 
who agree to make the purchase? Of those who refuse? 

 The Pacific Institute for Research 
and Evaluation has produced a 
monograph on conducting alcohol
surveys. It is available on 
the Internet at 
www.udetc.org/documents/purchase.pdf.




 Which fraternity and sorority houses and private 
residences have reputations as "party houses?" 

 Which licensed establishments have a reputation for 
not checking ID, or for accepting fake IDs? Are 
individual clerks, door staff, or managers part of the 
problem? 

 Are there relationships between the staff and the 
customers (e.g., they know each other from campus) 
that make service denial difficult? 

 Is it more likely for underage people to obtain alcohol 
because they showed a fake ID, or because the vendor 
did not ask for ID? 

 How many fake ID cards get confiscated? Who 
confiscates them (e.g., police, licensed- establishment 
employees, school officials)? How have the IDs been 
altered or falsified? Where and how do the drinkers 
obtain them? 


Times/Locations 

 How often do underage drinkers drink? How much do 
they drink? 

 When do underage drinkers typically drink (e.g., time of 
day, day of week)? 

 Where does underage drinking occur (e.g., private 
parties, licensed establishments, parks, remote areas)? 

 How many underage parties at private residences come 
to police attention? How do the police find out about 
them? 

 How many youth attend the parties? How do they learn 
about them? Do they have to pay a fee to get in? Are 
adults of legal age responsible for the parties? 

 Are particular neighborhoods or residences known for 
underage parties? Are there outdoor venues (e.g., parks, 
beaches, fields) popular among underage drinkers? 




Understanding Your Local Problem 

 What type of alcohol is typically served at parties? Is 
food served? Are nonalcoholic beverages available? 

 What are local college and university policies regarding 
alcohol sales and consumption on campus? How 
involved are the Greek organizations in the drinking 
environment? What are their policies and practices 
regarding the availability of alcohol at their parties? 

 How many retail outlets and bars are there in the 
community? Do certain areas have high concentrations 
of retail outlets or bars? 


Special Events 

 At which community events does alcohol play a role in 
advertising or in event participation? Athletic events? 
What deterrents to underage drinking are in place at 
these events? How do underage drinkers circumvent 
these controls to get access? 

 Is your community a popular spring break destination? 
What are the typical spring break activities for students 
there? What types of problems do you encounter 
during that time? 

 Do underage drinkers participate in drinking games? If 
so, which games are popular? What types of problems 
occur at parties or events where people play drinking 
games? 


Current Responses 

 What is your jurisdiction currently doing to address 
underage drinking? Is there evidence that any activities 
are particularly effective? What is not working, and why? 

 Which agencies are involved with this issue? Are there 
other agencies, organizations, groups, or individuals 
who need to play a role? 




 What legal sanctions are there for underage drinking? 
What sanctions are actually imposed? 

 Are there other administrative sanctions that apply to 
certain groups of underage drinkers (e.g., suspensions 
or demerits for students)? What sanctions are typically 
applied? 

 Are there any informal social sanctions applied to 
certain groups of underage drinkers (e.g., being 
grounded by parents, being benched by athletic 
coaches, being fired by employers)? 


Measuring Your Effectiveness 

Measurement allows you to determine to what degree your 
efforts have succeeded, and suggests how you might 
modify your responses if they are not producing the 
intended results. You should take measures of underage 
drinking before you implement responses, to determine how 
serious the problem is, and after you implement them, to 
determine whether they have been effective. All measures 
should be taken in both the target area and the 
surrounding area. (For more detailed guidance on 
measuring effectiveness, see the companion guide to this 
series, Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide 
for Police Problem-Solvers.) 

The following are potentially useful measures of the 
effectiveness of responses to underage drinking: 

 reductions in the proportion of underage high school 
and college students who report drinking; 

 reductions in the number of citations given to minors 
for possession, underage purchase, etc. (assuming a 
constant enforcement level); 




Understanding Your Local Problem 

 reductions in the number of retailers cited for selling 
alcohol to minors (assuming a constant enforcement 
level); 

 reductions in the number of citations given for third-
party alcohol purchases (assuming a constant 
enforcement level); 

 reductions in the number of underage drinking parties 
requiring police response; 

 reductions in the number of complaints received about 
underage drinking parties; 

 reductions in the number of students who report 
having to tolerate secondhand effects of their peers' 
drinking; 

 reductions in alcohol-related crime statistics (e.g., 
assault, property damage, sexual assault); and 

 reductions in the number of alcohol-related deaths 
(e.g., suicides, traffic fatalities). 




Responses to the Problem of Underage 
Drinking 

Your analysis of your local problem should give you a 
better understanding of the factors contributing to it. 
Once you have analyzed your local problem and 
established a baseline for measuring effectiveness, you 
should consider possible responses to address the 
problem. 

The following response strategies provide a foundation for 
addressing your particular underage drinking problem. 
These strategies are drawn from a variety of research 
studies and police reports. Several of these strategies may 
apply to your community's problem. It is critical that you 
tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can 
justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most 
cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing 
several different responses. Law enforcement responses 
alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the 
problem. Do not limit yourself to considering what police 
can do: give careful consideration to who else in your 
community shares responsibility for the problem and can 
help police better respond to it. 

General Considerations for an Effective Response 
Strategy 

1. Reducing the community's overall alcohol 
consumption. Any efforts to reduce a community's 
overall drinking have the potential to reduce underage 
drinking as well. Changing the norms about alcohol's role 
in the community can affect young people as well as those 
legal to drink. Specific responses could include 


discouraging price discounts on alcohol, restricting the 
hours or days retailers can sell alcohol, or limiting the 
number of community alcohol outlets. 

2. Creating community coalitions. Many groups have a 
vested interest in the problem of underage drinking. 
However, conflicting personal, political, and business 
interests can make cooperative community efforts difficult 
to implement and even harder to sustain.42 The most 
successful efforts to combat underage drinking have 
included a broad range of stakeholders who can lend their 
specific expertise to the issue, and whose involvement can 
help to reduce any resistance to the effort. Potential 
partners include the following: 

 state, local, and campus police agencies; 

 county prosecutor's and city attorney's offices; 

 state and local elected officials; 

 local high schools, colleges, and universities; 

 parent organizations such as the Parent-Teacher 
Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving; 

 student organizations such as the student council, 
athletics associations, Students Against Drunk Driving, 
and Interfraternity Council; 

 community recreation programs and athletic programs; 

 community and neighborhood programs such as Crime 
Watch and Neighborhood Watch; 

 alcohol licensing bureaus and ABC boards; 

 local bars and restaurants, and alcohol wholesalers and 
distributors; 

 local retailers and distribution centers; and 

 media advocacy groups. 




3. 
Using a multifaceted, comprehensive approach. A 
multifaceted, comprehensive approach is more effective 
than one that focuses on only one or two aspects of 
underage drinking. For example, responses targeting only 
the commercial availability of alcohol to minors could 
displace the problem to residential neighborhoods, in the 
form of house parties. A comprehensive approach should 
address the motivations for underage drinking, the specific 
harms associated with underage drinking (e.g., drunken 
driving), the commercial and social availability of alcohol, 
the use of fake IDs, and the community's norms regarding 
alcohol. It is vital to look broadly at the environment that 
supports the problem behavior. Programs targeting the 
college environments in which drinking occurs have been 
shown to reduce the level of students' alcohol 
consumption, as well as the problems experienced by 
drinkers and those around them.43 

 See DeJong and Langford (2002) 
for a useful table of strategies that 
illustrate the importance of 
approaching the problem from 
various levels and focusing on the 
environment that sustains the 
behavior.

4. 
Understanding your state's laws regarding 
underage drinking. All U.S. states have laws governing 
minors' purchase and possession of alcohol. However, the 
specifics of the laws vary widely, and their usefulness in 
constructing responses can be limited by unusual wording 
or loopholes.44 When considering responses that alter 
penalties or apply new sections of law to the problem, it is 
vitally important to consult with your jurisdiction's 
prosecutor to ensure the law's interpretation supports your 
intentions. 

 You can find a description of 
each state's statutes at 
http://www.nllea.org/reports/ABC 
EnforcementLegalResearch.pdf.

5. 
Avoiding overwhelming the court system. Stepping 
up enforcement efforts nearly always results in an increase 
in court cases. If the system is not prepared to handle the 
increase, and offenders are not quickly sanctioned, the 
response's effectiveness may be undermined. For this 





reason alone, it is often worthwhile to develop responses 
that do not rely on the application of criminal penalties. 
Some jurisdictions have anticipated this issue and have 
included court representatives in the project-planning 
phase, to get their cooperation in handling the increased 
number of cases,45 or have enlisted them as partners to 
create alternative sanctions for offenders, such as 
community service-based diversion programs.46 

Specific Responses to Underage Drinking 

Responses That Target the Motivation to Drink 

6. Implementing a "social norms" program. Some 
interventions use a harm-reduction approach. In other 
words, they attempt to reduce how much or how often 
young people drink, rather than try to prevent underage 
drinking altogether, which some see as unrealistic, 
particularly among college students. 

Image safe drinking in college advertisement



Given that many youth drink because they think "everyone 
else is doing it," providing accurate information on the 
typical amount of alcohol consumed and the proportion 
of peers who drink heavily (both of which are lower than 
most young people estimate) may reduce overall 
consumption levels among college students.47 Essential 
steps include identifying students' primary source of 
information (e.g., the campus newspaper), placing notices 
that provide accurate statistics regarding alcohol use, and 
providing students with incentives to process and retain 
the information. Social norms researchers recommend 
keeping the message simple, straightforward, and 
consistent, and stressing the norm of moderation.48 
Anticipate some opposition to an approach that could be 
perceived as condoning some level of underage drinking. 

7. Raising underage drinkers' awareness of their 
behavior's impact on other people. Informing underage 
drinkers that their drinking adversely affects their peers, 
and that their peers are no longer willing to tolerate it, can 
encourage young people to reduce their alcohol use.49 

Image of underage drinking awareness poster
Posters and flyers raise awareness of the 
second-hand effects of drinking. Source: Hobart & 
William Smith Colleges Alcohol Education Project, see 
http://academic.hws.edu/alcohol/posters/posters 

 While there is research to 
substantiate the effectiveness of 
social norms marketing programs, 
other studies cast doubt on their 
effectiveness. For example, Wechsler 
et al (2003), compared student 
drinking patterns at colleges that 
employed social-norms marketing 
programs and those that did not. 
Over a three year period, no 
decreases in various measures of 
alcohol use were evident at schools 
with social norms marketing 
programs. In fact, increases in 
monthly alcohol use and in total 
volume consumed were observed at 
some schools. 



These campaigns should take care not to reinforce an 
institution's reputation as a "party school" or encourage 
the ostracism of nondrinkers.50 They should direct those 
interested to further resources and information. 

8. Providing treatment or feedback. Cognitive-
behavioral approaches and skills-based training have 
proved effective strategies in reducing high-risk drinking 
among young people.51 These interventions require 
drinkers to monitor their alcohol use and any alcohol-
related problems. They also teach important skills such as 
drink refusal and drink pacing to reduce the harms 
associated with underage drinking. In addition, 
motivational techniques that provide nonjudgmental 
feedback to young people based on their own assessment 
of their drinking patterns have had some success in 
reducing drinking and its negative consequences.52 

Responses That Target Commercial Access to Alcohol 

9. Improving the ability to detect fake IDs. Using fake 
IDs to obtain alcohol from retailers or at bars and 
restaurants is widespread, in part because of the relative 
ease in altering, forging, or counterfeiting these 
documents. In addition, underage drinkers often present 
merchants, bartenders, and door staff with out-of-state 
IDs with which they are not familiar, making it difficult to 
detect minor alterations. ID guides can help in detecting 
the more egregious falsifications. Training programs are 
also available to help in identifying more subtle forms of 
falsification, such as picture replacement, date adjustments, 
computer-generated duplicates, and mismatches between 
the person's appearance and the ID photograph.53 

 See Walters (2000) for sample 
feedback forms. 

 Several companies publish 
reference books of each state's ID 
cards. For example, see 
http://www.idcheckingguide.com/ 



Many states have changed their driver's licenses and ID 
cards to make them more tamper-resistant. For example, 
some states use a profile photograph of minors to clearly 
indicate that they are under 21. Others boldly print 
"Under 21 Until" on the face of ID cards. Holograms 
or indicators that can be seen only under an ultraviolet 
light can also deter counterfeiting. Using scanners to read 
barcodes and magnetic strips can also help in detecting 
altered ID cards.54 While this response must be enacted at 
the state level, it can provide a powerful tool for reducing 
fake-ID use. 

When citing someone for using a fake ID, you should ask 
about the source of the document so that you can tailor 
your responses to unique problems or emerging trends. 
For example, one jurisdiction confiscated a number of 
fake IDs procured through the Internet. By copyrighting 
the state's driver's license, the jurisdiction could use 
copyright-violation laws to close down counterfeiting 
Internet sites.55 

David Corbett 
Image of ID check
ID guides can help doormen to identify documents that have been 
falsified. 



10. Implementing "Responsible Beverage Service and 
Sales Training" programs. The primary lines of defense 
against commercial access to alcohol by underage youth 
are the sales clerks, waiters and waitresses, and bartenders 
who directly interact with them. Business owners and 
managers should set clear policies for their employees 
regarding checking ID and denying service to underage 
customers. Without this support, changes in server or 
seller behavior are unlikely. 

Many states' ABC boards provide free responsible-
beverage-service-and-sales training to licensed 
establishments. Some states require such training for 
licensing, and others provide specific incentives for 
businesses that participate voluntarily. These programs 
inform participants about state and local ordinances 
concerning alcohol sales to minors, and about penalties for 
breaking the law. Further, they help owners and managers 
to develop establishment-level policies and practices to 
help employees carry out their legal obligations. Essential 
elements of effective service and sales policies include:56 

 establishing 21 as the minimum age for everyone who 
serves or sells alcohol, 

 ensuring that staff know their legal responsibilities 
regarding underage sales, 

 ensuring that staff know the establishment's policies 
and the consequences for violating them, 

 requiring ID from all customers who appear to be 
under 30, 

 developing specific guidelines and providing training on 
valid forms of ID, and 

 monitoring staff compliance and enforcing 
consequences for violations. 




Good training programs offer skill-development exercises, 
such as:57 

 how to identify a fake ID, how to confiscate it, and 
what to do with it once confiscated; 

 how to determine whether an adult is buying alcohol 
for someone underage, and how to refuse service; 

 how to resist pressure to serve or sell alcohol to an 
underage customer; and 

 how to refuse service without creating a tense situation. 

Businesses should inform customers about their 
participation in such programs, both to encourage 
community support for responsible business practices and 
to deter underage youth from trying to buy alcohol or gain 
entry. 

11. Enforcing minimum-age purchase laws. The 
primary means to enforce minimum-age purchase laws is 
to conduct compliance checks of businesses that sell 
alcohol for use either on or off premises. Compliance 
checks use underage volunteers who try to gain entry and 
alcohol service at bars or restaurants, or buy alcohol at 
stores. The volunteer is directed to be truthful about his 
or her age, if asked, and to present legitimate ID. If the 
volunteer is able to buy alcohol, the server and manager 
are cited for violating the minimum-age purchase law. In 
some jurisdictions, if a clerk or bartender appropriately 
denies service to an underage volunteer, the alcohol board 
notifies the business owner and encourages the owner to 
congratulate and reward the employee for obeying the 
law.58 





There are a number of important considerations and 
decisions to be made when designing a compliance 
investigation: 

 selecting underage volunteers who clearly look 
underage, and whose diverse characteristics may help to 
avoid bias or other factors that may influence sales 
rates; 

 training volunteers on how to make a purchase: how to 
act, what to say, and how to respond to questions; 

 selecting location, time of day, and frequency of 
operations; 

 choosing the type and amount of alcohol to buy; and 

 addressing a variety of operational issues, such as 
deploying officers, issuing citations, recording or 
observing transactions, keeping records, and working 
with the media. 

 See Alcohol Epidemiology 
Program (2000) and Willingham 
(n.d.) for two excellent guides on 
designing compliance investigations. 


Given that the overall goal is to reduce alcohol sales to 
minors, and not to issue a high volume of citations, it is 
important to give retailers, bars, and restaurants notice that 
random and ongoing compliance checks will be 
conducted.59 Such notice, and prior consultation with local 
prosecutors, can also help to prevent entrapment claims. 

Some jurisdictions supplement compliance investigations 
with "Cops-in-Shops" operations that station a police 
officer in an establishment, as either a customer or an 
employee, to apprehend underage people trying to buy 
alcohol. Establishments cooperating in these operations 
post a sign in the window notifying customers that a 
police officer may pose as an employee, and advising them 
of the penalties for underage purchases. While this 
enforcement strategy has not been rigorously evaluated, 
case studies suggest that "Cops-in-Shops" programs can 
effectively supplement compliance checks, although they 


should not substitute for them.60 One of the main benefits 
of these operations is on-the-job training on identifying 
fake IDs and detecting typical physical and behavioral 
characteristics of minorsand of adults buying alcohol for 
them.61 

12. Conducting undercover "shoulder tap" operations. 
One of the main ways that young people obtain alcohol 
from commercial sources is to ask strangers to buy it for 
them. In "shoulder tap" operations, an undercover 
operative approaches an adult outside a store and asks the 
adult to buy him or her alcohol. If the adult agrees and 
does so, he or she is cited for furnishing alcohol to 
someone underage. As with all undercover operations, 
decisions about the characteristics of the volunteers used, 
the scripts delivered, the types of establishments and 
potential buyers targeted, the time of day, and other 
concerns are paramount to the effectiveness of the 
response. Very few of these operations have been 
evaluated, but case studies suggest that highly publicized 
operations that generate a large number of citations are 
likely to have a deterrent effect and reduce the amount of 
alcohol minors obtain through third parties.62 

13. Checking ID at bars and nightclubs. In this 
response, either plainclothes or uniformed officers enter 
an "on-premise" establishment and check the IDs of 
everyone drinking alcohol. They cite those with no or 
fraudulent ID, and the establishment may face 
administrative consequences. These ID checks encourage 
doormen and bartenders to be diligent in their efforts to 
verify customer age, and they show customers that the 
police support the establishment's policies and procedures. 



14. Applying graduated sanctions to retailers that 
break the law. There are three types of penalties imposed 
in response to violations of minimum-age purchase laws:63 

 
Administrative: These penalties involve restrictions, 
suspensions, or revocations of business licenses if 
retailers do not follow state and local standards of 
conduct. 
 
Criminal: These penalties apply to the person who sells 
alcohol to a minor. They may include fines, probation, 
or imprisonment, and they may be noted on a criminal 
record. 
 
Civil: These penalties are commonly called "dramshop 
liability," and refer to lawsuits for monetary damages 
for any harm caused by minors served alcohol by 
retailers. 


Penalties are most effective when believed to be both swift 
and certain. The likelihood of sanctions is more important 
than the severity of sanctions in encouraging compliance.64 
Given the complexity and often excessive severity of 
criminal charges, most states have found that 
administrative penalties are the most effective. Further, 
administrative penalties hold the establishment's owner 
responsible and significantly affect profitability, which 
encourages owners to ensure that all employees follow the 
law. The threat of civil liability has been shown to increase 
the consistency with which ID is checked, and to be 
related to decreases in negative alcohol-related 
consequences.65 One incentive for retailers to comply with 
the various provisions of responsible-beverage-service-
and-sales programs is to shield them from dramshop 
liability if they can demonstrate that they followed all 
applicable policies and practices. 



Responses That Target Social Access to Alcohol 

15. 
Training adults about "social host liability." Social 
host liability refers to the imposition of civil penalties 
against adults who provide alcohol to minors for injuries 
caused by those minors. Approximately 30 states have 
some form of social-host-liability law,66 but education and 
awareness programs must be in place to make them 
effective.67 At a minimum, education efforts should stress 
that it is unacceptable for adults to furnish minors with 
alcohol, and should increase awareness of relevant laws, 
penalties, and enforcement initiatives. This type of training 
has proved particularly effective with Greek organizations 
on college campuses, some of which have radically altered 
their practices regarding large house parties. 
16. 
Requiring keg registration. Police have noted that it 
is often difficult to identify the adult responsible for 
providing alcohol to minors at large house parties, 
particularly keg parties on college campuses. Keg 
registration links buyer information to the keg itself, 
through tags, stickers, or ID numbers stenciled on the keg. 
At the retail outlet, the buyer must provide ID and contact 
information, and may also be required to sign a statement 
indicating awareness that it is illegal to furnish alcohol to 
minors. When police seize a keg of beer at a party where 
underage drinking is occurring, the person responsible for 
furnishing the alcohol can be easily identified through the 
retailer. This response is relatively low-cost. However, a 
number of jurisdictions have noted that retailers can 
exploit voluntary keg registration by advertising their 
refusal to participate (e.g., "We don't use keg tracking").68 
Thus, it may be sensible to make keg registration 
mandatory. 




Image of keg registration form
Many states use keg registration to link information about those who 
purchase a keg to the keg itself. Buyers are required to complete a form at 
the time of purchase. The keg is marked with a permanent sticker or tag. 

Source: Georgia Department of Revenue 

Responses That Target Locations Where Drinking Occurs 

17. Developing house party guidelines, registration 
forms, and pre-party walk-through procedures. 

Offering guidance on how to host a safe party at which 
minors cannot access alcohol can reduce underage 
drinking and the number of complaints received from 


neighbors bothered by noise, traffic, and other party by-
products. A number of police departments and college 
student organizations have developed guidelines for safe 
parties. These guidelines offer pre-party preparation and 
hosting tips, such as the following:69 


 
Inform neighbors about the party and ask them to 
contact the host first if they have any concerns or 
problems, rather than automatically calling the police. 

 
Take frequent walks around the outside of the house 
and property to assess noise levels. 

 
Do not permit underage guests to drink. 

 
Ensure that people who have been drinking do not 
drive. 

 
If the police do show up, turn off the music, stop the 
party, and talk calmly with the officers. 
Other jurisdictions use voluntary party registration forms 
and pre-party site visits by police to offer prevention tips 
to parents or property owners. Guides have been 
developed to help high school students' parents in 
planning parties at their homes. Typical guidelines include 
the following:70 


 
Limit the number of people invited, and the number of 
people allowed on the property. 

 
Have sufficient chaperones to monitor the property and 
the guests for any problems. 

 
Be prepared the call an underage guest's parents if he 
or she appears to be under the influence of drugs or 
alcohol. 

 
Set a beginning and ending time for the party. 


It is important to remind party hosts that pre-party police 
advice is not foolproof, and that controlling the party and 
access to alcohol is their responsibility. 


star page header
 The San Diego Police 
Department uses its College Area 
Party Plan to identify locations that 
have been the subject of repeated 
violations and complaints. Once a 
property has been identified as a 
CAPP property, a zero tolerance 
policy is enacted for all future 
complaints: no warnings are given, 
and proactive arrests are made. The 
Silver Gate Group (2001). 

18. Setting up hotlines to gather information. Hotlines 
for students, teachers, or parents concerned about 
underage drinking can be a valuable information source. 
People use a hotline to report a party location either 
before or during the event. Patrol officers then drive by 
the location to identify any problems. Providing an easy-
to-remember phone number, ensuring caller anonymity, 
and staffing the hotline with nonpolice personnel increase 
the likelihood people will call. 

underage drinking hotline poster
Well-publicized hotlines can be a valuable source 
of information about party locations. Source: 
Texas Alcohol Beverage Commision 
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/enforce/hotline.htm 

19. Deploying party patrols. Teams of police officers 
dedicated to identifying and dispersing parties where 
underage drinking is occurring not only serve as a 
deterrent to such events, but also can reduce the number 
of youth who drive after drinking. Police identify party 
locations through hotline reports, complaints received 
from neighbors, keg registrations, or routine patrol. Once 
police establish probable cause and secure the perimeter of 



the location, they enter it; contact the host; identify those 
age 21 and over and those under 21 who have not been 
drinking, and release them; and process those under 21 
who have been drinking. They also cite the adult(s) 

responsible for furnishing the alcohol. Arranging safe  

transportation for those who have been drinking is vitally 
important. There are a number of detailed implementation 

guides available. 

 You should consult legal counsel if 
you are uncertain about police
authority in your jurisdiction to
enter house parties without a 
warrant.

 See Morrison and Didone (2000) 
and Casady (2002), accessible at 
www.ci.lincoln.ne.us/city/police/pdf/nuparty.pdf.


20. 
Imposing fines for each underage person drinking  
at a party. Large monetary penalties for providing alcohol  
to minors can be an effective deterrent to groups and 
organizations that regularly host parties where underage 
drinking occurs (e.g., fraternities and sororities). Issuing a 
summons to the responsible adult for each underage guest 
found drinking at a party can be financially devastating. 
One jurisdiction issued 70 summonses at one event, 
resulting in a fine of over $20,000 to the host.71 The 
financial liability from large parties where alcohol 
distribution is not controlled has caused a number of 
national Greek organizations to require that their 
properties and social functions be alcohol-free.72 When 
fine amounts are modest, party hosts may conclude that 
they are a small cost compared with the revenue they get 
from charging admission. 

21. 
Using landlord-tenant ordinances and nuisance 
abatement procedures. When police receive numerous 
complaints about parties from neighbors, and respond to a 
location multiple times and find underage drinking, they 
may have additional leverage through landlord-tenant 
ordinances and nuisance abatement procedures.73 If the 
party host rents the property, the landlord can be brought 
in to help resolve the problem. Upon the first citation for 
providing alcohol to minors, the landlord is issued a 




warning. Subsequent citations lead to requirements for 
corrective action plans, and ultimately, eviction if the 
problem continues. Similarly, some jurisdictions have used 
nuisance abatement procedures to combat problems often 
associated with house parties, such as illegal alcohol sales, 
excessive noise, and property damage.74 It is vitally 
important to document all contacts with tenants and 
owners to establish a record of noncompliance. 

22. 
Restricting alcohol use at popular outdoor venues 
and community events. Restricting drinking in public 
places can reduce excessive drinking and sales to minors.75 
One way to control the flow of alcohol at public venues is 
to issue conditional-use permits that set standards for how 
and when alcohol can be sold, served, or consumed. These 
permits can restrict drinking to certain "21 and over" 
areas, restrict the hours of sale, and limit advertising. 

23. 
Sponsoring alcohol-free events. High school and 
college students often complain that "there's nothing to 
do" in their communities, and often have few 
opportunities to socialize outside of school. This may 
increase drinking's appeal. Coalition- or school-sponsored 
alcohol-free events can increase the array of social 
alternatives for youth and can substitute for events and 
traditions centered on excessive drinking (e.g., after-prom 
parties, tailgating before athletic events, spring break).76 
The events schedule should be focused on the most 
problematic times of the day, days of the week, and 
locations.77 For example, late-night weekend activities such 
as movies or karaoke can be planned for residence halls 
where underage drinking has been a persistent problem. 




24. Developing campus policies to deter underage 
drinking. Given that college campuses are popular 
settings for underage drinking, it is vital that school-
specific strategies be enacted in jurisdictions that include 
colleges and universities. These could include clarifying 
campus alcohol policies, creating substance-free housing 
and dormitories, adjusting class and exam schedules to 
deter Thursday-night drinking, and using campus 
disciplinary procedures to emphasize the school's 
intolerance for alcohol violations.78,  

 See Fisher (1999) and National 
Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse 
and Alcoholism (2002) for detailed
response guides for college 
campuses. 


Responses That Focus on the Consequences of Underage 
Drinking 

25. Applying administrative sanctions rather than 
criminal penalties. Criminal penalties are meant to serve 
as a deterrent. However, severe criminal penalties for 
underage drinking-related offenses (e.g., possession, 
attempted purchase, use of fake ID) are seldom enforced 
and have not proved a big deterrent.79 In part, the lack of 
widespread, consistent enforcement is due to the burden 
on prosecutor and court resources, and a reluctance to 
enforce stiff penalties for what is perceived as a minor 
offense. Criminal sanctions are often neither swift nor 
certain, which undermines their deterrent effect. In 
contrast, less severe penalties (e.g., fines, community 
service) are more likely to be enforced and may be a 
greater deterrent.80 

Suspension of a minor's driver's license in response to an 
alcohol violationwhether or not the offense involved a 
vehicleis the penalty for breaking use/lose laws. For 
youths not yet licensed to drive, use/lose laws generally 



delay the issuance of a driver's license for a specified 
amount of time. These laws have been linked to a 
reduction in vehicle-related alcohol problems,81 but raise 
constitutional concerns.82 Use/lose laws have been 
extended to cover the use of a fake ID. Many states have 
recently increased the penalties for using a fake ID, and 
have publicized these changes to ensure that young people 
are aware of the consequences for doing so. Keep in 
mind that extending driver's licensing sanctions to 
nondriving offenses almost certainly will increase offenses 
such as driving with a suspended or revoked license and 
eluding a police officer. 

26. Applying informal social control. While there have 
been no evaluations of informal social control's impact on 
underage drinking, we know that young people are often 
more powerfully influenced by teachers, coaches, mentors, 
peers, and parents than they are by the threat of formal 
sanctions. Enlisting the help of responsible adults who 
have relationships with young people not only can prevent 
expensive criminal justice sanctions that often take some 
time to be imposed, but also sends a powerful message 
about the community's intolerance for underage drinking. 
For example, when police cite high school or college 
athletes for underage drinking, notifying their coaches of 
the infractions can lead to creative consequences that hold 
the offenders accountable but do not saddle them with a 
criminal record. Similarly, parents and schools revoke 
privileges (e.g., driving, participating in social events) or 
impose disciplinary sanctions in response to citations for 
underage drinking. Military commanders may discipline 
underage soldiers who come into contact with police. 
Police may find opportunities to support these forms of 
informal social control. 

 For example, Virginia's ABC 
board created a pamphlet, available 
at 
http://www.abc.state.va.us/Educatio 
n/fakeid/FakeID.pdf. 



Responses With Limited Effectiveness 

27. 
Using school-based education, awareness, or 
values-clarification programs. Student orientation, 
alcohol awareness weeks, and curriculum infusion are 
typical interventions found on high school and college 
campuses. The assumption guiding these efforts is that 
people make wiser choices if they know the facts about 
alcohol. Although this may be true, information alone is 
usually insufficient to change behavior.83 Evaluations of 
these stand-alone programs have found no effect on 
alcohol use or alcohol-related consequences.84 

28. 
Launching consequence-focused information 
campaigns. Focusing solely on the negative consequences 
of underage drinking is unlikely to affect young people's 
alcohol use.85 Not only is drinking likely to be entrenched 
in community and peer group norms, but also young 
people tend to be risk-takers and to deny their 
vulnerability to both short- and long-term consequences. 
Most importantly, consequence-focused campaigns rarely 
address the motivations for underage drinkingnor do they 
offer realistic or practical alternatives. 




Appendix 

Appendix A: Summary of Responses to 
Underage Drinking 

The table below summarizes the responses to underage 
drinking, the mechanism by which they are intended to 
work, the conditions under which they ought to work best, 
and some factors you should consider before 
implementing a particular response. It is critical that you 
tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can 
justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most 
cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing 
several different responses. Law enforcement responses 
alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the 
problem. 

Response No. 
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

General Considerations for an Effective Response Strategy 
1. 
23 
Reducing the community's overall alcohol consumption
Changes community norms about drinking  
multiple responses are used simultaneously
May not addressthe specificreasons for, 
locations of, and 
problemsassociated with 
underage 
drinking 

2. 24 
Creating community coalitions 
Enlists multiple stakeholders 
with specific areas of 
expertise; reduces over time resistance; 
establishes joint ownership ofthe problem 
resistant stakeholders are also included 
Requires a high level of project 
management to sustain interest 




Response 
No. 
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

3. 25 
Using amultifaceted, comprehensive approach 
Addresses manyof the known risk factors; 
prevents displacement 
responses areimplemented as designed and are properly sequenced 
Difficult to isolate a specificintervention's 
effect; requirescoordination; a 
large number of options can beoverwhelming 

4. 25 
Understanding your state's laws regarding underage drinking 
Ensures that responses are appropriately targeted and can 
withstand scrutiny in court 
police review the laws in consultation with the local 
prosecutor 
Frequently amended and updated, so a regular review is required 

5. 25 
Avoiding overwhelming the court system 
Increases the likelihood of a quick response 
meaningful alternative sanctions are in place 
Effect depends onthe impact of criminal versus noncriminal 
sanctions among the target group 


Specific Responses to Underage Drinking
Responses that Target the Motivation to Drink 
6. 26 
Implementing a"social norms" program 
Corrects misperceptionsabout the proportion of 
peers who drink;uses adolescents' desire to conform to 
reduce drinking 
the message is simple, memorable, truthful, and reinforced 
Gives the message that some underage drinking is acceptable;
could encourage those who drink less than the norm 
to increase their consumption inorder to fit in 

7. 27 
Raising underage drinkers' awareness of 
their behavior's impact on otherpeople 
Uses peer pressure to encourage underage drinkers to 
control their behavior 
victimized students are empowered, specific statistics that show 
widespread impact are used,and additional information 
resources are provided 
Risk of reinforcing a"party school" image; risk that 
nondrinkers will be ostracized if they are not sufficiently empowered 



Response No. 
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

8. 28 
Providing treatment or feedback 
Provides personalized feedback on the 
level of risk underage drinkers face; 
provides them with skills to 
it is not seen as punishment, is 
nonjudgmental,and provides alternative ways 
of behaving 
Those who most need intervention may be the ones
who don't show up for or drop out of treatment 
help break their drinking habits 

Responses That Target Commercial Access to Alcohol

9. 28 
Improving the ability to detect fake IDs 
Eliminates a tool commonlyu sed to obtain 
alcohol 
servers/seller sare trained, have good reference 
materials and 
Long-term effect is limited unless the original source  
of the IDs is good lighting,and are addressed 
supported by management 

10. 30 
Implementing"ResponsibleBeverage Service and 
Sales Training" programs 
Restricts access to sources of alcohol; provides 
skills and incentives for servers/sellers to comply with the law 
laws are enforced, the training is mandatory, and 
following procedures protects businesses from 
If not mandatory, establishments may lose business to 
places that do notcomply; requirespolice and management 
enforcement to be dram shopliability taken seriously 

11. 31 
Enforcing minimum-age purchase laws 
Reinforces establishment-level proceduresto refuse service 
to those under 
compliancechecks are random, ongoing, and conducted on a 
Can be expensive in jurisdictionswith large numbers 
of outlets 21 large number of retail outlets; and 
administrative penalties applyto both the 
server/seller and the manager/owner 


Response No. 
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

12. 33 
Conducting undercover "shoulder tap"operations 
Fear of sanctions deters adults from 
buying alcohol for minors 
the undercover decoy is chosen 
carefully, and the operation is highly 
publicized both before and after it occurs 
Can be complicated andexpensive; if not 
properly designed,it can be vulnerable to 
entrapment claims 

13. 33 
Checking ID at bars and nightclubs 
Reinforces establishment-level proceduresto refuse service 
to those under 21 
checks are random and ongoing, fake IDs are seized, 
and meaningfulsanctions are 
Need to target a wide range of establishments to 
be seen as fair applied to boththe minor and the establishment 

14. 34 
Applying graduated sanctions to retailers that 
break the law 
Holds retailers accountable, with increasingly punitive 
sanctions for subsequent infractions; 
sanctions are administratively focused, and 
penalties areswift and certain 
Criminal penaltiescan be complexand time-consuming; need 
to target a wide range of establishments to affects be seen as fair 
profitability 

Responses That Target Social Access to Alcohol

15. 35 
Training adults about "social host liability 
Fear of sanctions deters adults from 
buying alcoholfor minors 
laws are accompanied by widespread education and 
awareness 
Not likely to be effective without enforcement 
efforts, and enforcement is consistent 

16. 35 
Requiring keg registration 
Allows police toidentify theretailer that 
furnished alcohol to minors 
it is mandatory, and a fine is imposed
for tampering with a tag or sticker on a keg 
If registration isnot mandatory, 
establishments that voluntarily comply 
may lose businessto those that don't 



Response No.
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 
 
Responses That Target Locations Where Drinking Occurs 

17. 36 
Developing house party guidelines, registration forms, and pre-
party walkthroughprocedures 
Provides useful advice about controlling house parties 
a responsibleadult who is motivated to obey the law is 
in charge of the party 
Is voluntary; despite good intentions, the 
party may still get out of control and require police intervention 

18. 38 
Setting up hotlines to gather information 
Helps police toidentify potentially problematic party locations 
the hotline is staffed by nonpolicepersonnel, and 
the number is well-publicized and easy to remember 
Not all information may be accurate or useful; not all 
parties will be discovered this way 

19. 38 
Deploying party patrols 
Fear of sanctions deters hosts from having parties; 
parties where underage drinking occursare dispersed 
patrols areconsistent, routine, and highly publicized; and 
dispersal is safeand orderly 
Can be cost-prohibitive and time-consuming;diverts officers 
from other duties 

20. 39 
Imposing fines for each underage person drinking 
at a party 
Increases financial consequences of hosting a party where underage 
guests aredrinking 
fines are imposed after the initiative has 
been publicizedand warnings have been issued, 
and there is significant public 
May be viewed as excessively punitive support 

21. 39 
Using landlord-tenant ordinances and nuisance 
abatement 
Uses civil remedies to target properties 
with a history of violations 
multiple agencies are involved, and all 
interactions and violations have 
Likely to require asignificant timeinvestment 
procedures been documented 



Response No. 
Page No. 
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

22. 40 
Restricting alcohol use at popular outdoor venues 
and community events 
Adjusts community norms regarding drinking; makes 
it harder for underage drinkers to 
obtain alcohol 
limitations are strictly enforced for all drinkers 
Requires significant manpower to 
enforce at bigcommunity events 

23. 40 
Sponsoring alcohol-free 
Decreases reliance on alcohol-centered 
events as a means of socializing
the events are scheduled for the 
times, days, and locations that 
have historicallybeen the most problematic, and 
the events are highly publicized 
Needs to target those who would events  
otherwise be drinking to have an 
impact on theoverall underage drinking problem 

24. 41 
Developing campus policies to deter 
underage drinking 
Holds students accountable, using school-based 
disciplinary procedures 
...the policiessend a consistent message about 
alcohol's role on campus, problemdrinking atGreek 
organizations is targeted, and students are involved in 
policy development 
Requires support from diverse groups ofstakeholders; likely 
to encounter some opposition 

Responses That Focus on the Consequences for Underage Drinking

25. 41 
Applying administrative sanctions rather than criminal penalties 
Holds offenders accountable with 
sanctions that can be quickly applied
the alternative sanctions are 
meaningful, and the community 
supports alternative sentencing
May require thecreation of new programs and 
sanctions, or the expansion ofexisting ones 

26. 42 
Applying informal social control 
Enlists people with important 
relationships with youths to 
encourage them 
to change their 
behavior 
the behavior is 
sanctioned 
appropriately, 
and the youths 
are concerned 
about others' 
opinions 
Requiresknowledge of the 
significant othersin minors' lives; 
requirescooperation fromsignificant others 



Response No. 
Page No.
Response 
How It Works 
Works Best If 
Considerations 

Responses With Limited Effectiveness 
27. 43 
Using school-based 
education, awareness, or values-
Assumes that knowing thefacts leads to 
better choices 
Information alone is usually insufficient to 
produce a change in behavior clarification 
programs 

28. 43 
Launching consequence-focused information 
campaigns 
Assumes that knowing about the negative 
consequenceswill deter dangerous or 
illegal behavior 
Information often stands in stark 
contrast to young people's experience and thus has little 
credibility; youngpeople tend to deny their own 
vulnerability; it does not address 
the motivations for drinking 



Endnotes 

1 Johnston, O'Malley, and Bachman (2002).
2 Wagenaar (1993).
3 Wechsler (2001).
4 Keeling (2002).
5 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003).
6 Engineer et al. (2003).
7 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Office of Applied Studies (2001). 
8 Wechsler et al. (2002); National Center on Addiction 
and Substance Abuse (1994). 
9 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (1994). 
10 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (1997). 
11 Center for Science in the Public Interest (2000). 
12 Wechsler (2001). 
13 Keeling (2002). 
14 Engineer et al. (2003). 
15 Bandura (1977). 
16 Christiansen et al. (1989). 
17 Christiansen et al. (1989). 
18 Engineer et al. (2003). 
19 Hirschi (1969); Durkin, Wolfe, and Clark (1999). 
20 Perkins and Berkowitz (1986); Perkins (2002). 
21 Perkins (2002). 
22 Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (2003). 
23 Weitzman et al. (2003). 
24 Wechsler and Wuethrich (2002). 
25 Kuo et al. (2003). 
26 Wagenaar et al. (1996). 
27 Wagenaar et al. (1996). 
28 Powell and Willingham (n.d.). 
29 Wechsler and Wuethrich (2002). 
30 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
31 Myers and Willingham (2001). 



32 Preusser et al. (1995).
33 Durkin, Wolfe, and Phillips (1996).
34 Morrison and Didone (n.d.).
35 Wechsler and Wuethrich (2002).
36 Wechsler and Wuethrich (2002).
37 Michigan State University, Department of Police and
Public Safety (1998). 
38 Walter et al. (2001). 
39 Smeaton and Josalm (1998). 
40 BRAD (n.d.). 
41 Borsari, Bergen-Cico, and Carey (2003). 
42 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
43 Weitzman et al. (2004) 
44 Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (2003). 
45 Wichita Police Department (1999). 
46 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (1998). 
47 Haines (1996). 
48 Haines (1996). 
49 DeJong (2002). 
50 DeJong (2002). 
51 Larimer and Cronce (2002). 
52 Larimer and Cronce (2002). 
53 Myers and Willingham (2001); Michigan State 
University, Department of Police and Public Safety (1998). 
54 Kanable (2002). 
55 National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (2003). 
56 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003); Wolfson et al. (1996). 
57 Alcohol Epidemiology Program (n.d.). 
58 Alliance Against Underage Drinking (n.d.). 
59 Reece (1984). 
60 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
61 Michigan State University, Department of Police and 
Public Safety (1998). 
62 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 


63 Mosher and Stewart (1999).
64 Ross (1992).
65 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003).
66 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (2002).
67 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003).
68 Michigan State University, Department of Police and
Public Safety (1998). 
69 Adams (2003). 
70 Morrison and Didone (n.d.). 
71 Boulder Police Department (1997). 
72 Hechtkopf, Woods-Issacs, and Jamieson (2001). 
73 Walski (2002). 
74 Morrison and Didone (n.d.). 
75 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
76 Weitzman et al. (2004) 
77 University of Alaska, Fairbanks (2000). 
78 Weitzman et al. (2004) 
79 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
80 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
81 Ulmer, Shabanova, and Preusser (2001). 
82 Bonnie and O'Connell (2003). 
83 DeJong and Langford (2002). 
84 Larimer and Cronce (2002). 
85 DeJong (2002). 



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About the Author 

Kelly Dedel Johnson 

Kelly Dedel Johnson is the Director of One in 37 Research, Inc., a 
criminal justice consulting firm based in Portland, Ore. As a 
consultant to federal, state, and local agencies, her research on the 
juvenile and criminal justice systems takes one of three major forms: 
1) developing written tools to enhance practice or inform public 
policy; 2) conducting investigations of the conditions of confinement 
in juvenile correctional facilities; and 3) undertaking rigorous 
evaluations of various juvenile and criminal justice programs to 
determine their effectiveness. She has provided evaluation-related 
technical assistance to over 60 jurisdictions across the country for the 
Bureau of Justice Assistance. In this capacity, Dr. Dedel Johnson 
worked with a broad range of criminal justice programs implemented 
by police, prosecutors, public defenders, local jails, community 
corrections, and prisons. Dr. Dedel Johnson consults with the 
Department of Justice as a monitor/investigator of civil rights 
violations in juvenile correctional facilities, most often in the area of 
education. Among her other research interests are prisoner reentry, 
risk assessment and offender classification, and juveniles in adult 
correctional facilities. Prior to working as a consultant, she was a 
founder and senior research scientist at The Institute on Crime, Justice 
and Corrections at The George Washington University, and was a 
senior research associate at the National Council on Crime and 
Delinquency. Dr. Dedel Johnson received bachelor's degrees in 
psychology and criminal justice from the University of Richmond and 
a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Center for Psychological 
Studies in Berkeley, Calif. 



Recommended Readings 

 
A Police Guide to Surveying Citizens and Their 
Environments, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1993. This 
guide offers a practical introduction for police practitioners 
to two types of surveys that police find useful: surveying 
public opinion and surveying the physical environment. It 
provides guidance on whether and how to conduct cost-
effective surveys. 
 
Assessing Responses to Problems: An 
Introductory Guide for Police Problem-Solvers, by 
John E. Eck (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 
Community Oriented Policing Services, 2001). This guide is 
a companion to the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series. It 
provides basic guidance to measuring and assessing 
problem-oriented policing efforts. 
 
Conducting Community Surveys, by Deborah Weisel 
(Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office of Community 
Oriented Policing Services, 1999). This guide, along with 
accompanying computer software, provides practical, basic 
pointers for police in conducting community surveys. The 
document is also available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs. 
 
Crime Prevention Studies, edited by Ronald V. Clarke 
(Criminal Justice Press, 1993, et seq.). This is a series of 
volumes of applied and theoretical research on reducing 
opportunities for crime. Many chapters are evaluations of 
initiatives to reduce specific crime and disorder problems. 



 
Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing:The 1999 
Herman Goldstein Award Winners. This document 
produced by the National Institute of Justice in 
collaboration with the Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services and the Police Executive Research Forum 
provides detailed reports of the best submissions to the 
annual award program that recognizes exemplary problem-
oriented responses to various community problems. A 
similar publication is available for the award winners from 
subsequent years. The documents are also available at 
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij. 
 
Not Rocket Science? Problem-Solving and Crime 
Reduction, by Tim Read and Nick Tilley (Home Office 
Crime Reduction Research Series, 2000). Identifies and 
describes the factors that make problem-solving effective or 
ineffective as it is being practiced in police forces in 
England and Wales. 
 
Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory for 
Crime Prevention, by Marcus Felson and Ronald V. 
Clarke (Home Office Police Research Series, Paper No. 98, 
1998). Explains how crime theories such as routine activity 
theory, rational choice theory and crime pattern theory have 
practical implications for the police in their efforts to 
prevent crime. 
 
Problem Analysis in Policing, by Rachel Boba (Police 
Foundation, 2003). Introduces and defines problem 
analysis and provides guidance on how problem analysis 
can be integrated and institutionalized into modern 
policing practices. 



 
Problem-Oriented Policing, by Herman Goldstein 
(McGraw-Hill, 1990, and Temple University Press, 1990). 
Explains the principles and methods of problem-oriented 
policing, provides examples of it in practice, and discusses 
how a police agency can implement the concept. 
 
Problem-Oriented Policing and Crime 
Prevention, by Anthony A. Braga (Criminal Justice 
Press, 2003). Provides a through review of significant 
policing research about problem places, high-activity 
offenders, and repeat victims, with a focus on the 
applicability of those findings to problem-oriented 
policing. Explains how police departments can facilitate 
problem-oriented policing by improving crime analysis, 
measuring performance, and securing productive 
partnerships. 
 
Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the 
First 20 Years, by Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of 
Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 
2000). Describes how the most critical elements of 
Herman Goldstein's problem-oriented policing model have 
developed in practice over its 20-year history, and proposes 
future directions for problem-oriented policing. The report 
is also available at www.cops.usdoj.gov. 
 
Problem-Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in 
Newport News, by John E. Eck and William Spelman 
(Police Executive Research Forum, 1987). Explains the 
rationale behind problem-oriented policing and the 
problem-solving process, and provides examples of 
effective problem-solving in one agency. 




 
Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime 
and Disorder Through Problem-Solving 
Partnerships by Karin Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott 
Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg Townsend. (U.S. 
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services, 1998) (also available at 
www.cops.usdoj.gov). Provides a brief introduction to 
problem-solving, basic information on the SARA model 
and detailed suggestions about the problem-solving process. 
 
Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case 
Studies, Second Edition, edited by Ronald V. Clarke 
(Harrow and Heston, 1997). Explains the principles and 
methods of situational crime prevention, and presents over 
20 case studies of effective crime prevention initiatives. 
 
Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems: 
Case Studies in Problem-Solving, by Rana Sampson 
and Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 
Community Oriented Policing Services, 2000) (also available 
at www.cops.usdoj.gov). Presents case studies of effective 
police problem-solving on 18 types of crime and disorder 
problems. 
 
Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook 
for Law Enforcement, by Timothy S. Bynum (U.S. 
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services, 2001). Provides an introduction for 
police to analyzing problems within the context of 
problem-oriented policing. 
 
Using Research: A Primer for Law Enforcement 
Managers, Second Edition, by John E. Eck and Nancy G. 
LaVigne (Police Executive Research Forum, 1994). Explains 
many of the basics of research as it applies to police 
management and problem-solving. 




Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides series: 

1. 
Assaults in and Around Bars. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 
ISBN: 1-932582-00-2 
2. 
Street Prostitution. Michael S. Scott. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-01-0 
3. 
Speeding in Residential Areas. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 
ISBN: 1-932582-02-9 
4. 
Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes. 
Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-03-7 
5. 
False Burglar Alarms. Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-04-5 
6. 
Disorderly Youth in Public Places. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 
ISBN: 1-932582-05-3 
7. 
Loud Car Stereos. Michael S. Scott. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-06-1 
8. 
Robbery at Automated Teller Machines. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 
ISBN: 1-932582-07-X 
9. 
Graffiti. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-08-8 
10. 
Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities. Ronald V. 
Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-09-6 
11. 
Shoplifting. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-10-X 
12. 
Bullying in Schools. Rana Sampson. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-11-8 
13. 
Panhandling. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-12-6 
14. 
Rave Parties. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-13-4 
15. 
Burglary of Retail Establishments. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002. 
ISBN: 1-932582-14-2 
16. 
Clandestine Drug Labs. Michael S. Scott. 2002. 
ISBN: 1-932582-15-0 
17. 
Acquaintance Rape of College Students. Rana Sampson. 2002. 
ISBN: 1-932582-16-9 
18. 
Burglary of Single-Family Houses. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 
2002. ISBN: 1-932582-17-7 
19. 
Misuse and Abuse of 911. Rana Sampson. 2002. 
ISBN: 1-932582-18-5 




20. Financial Crimes Against the Elderly. 
Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-22-3 
21. 
Check and Card Fraud. Graeme R. Newman. 2003. 
ISBN: 1-932582-27-4 
22. 
Stalking. The National Center for Victims of Crime. 2004. 
ISBN: 1-932582-30-4 
23. 
Gun Violence Among Serious Young Offenders. Anthony A. 
Braga. 2004. ISBN: 1-932582-31-2 
24. 
Prescription Fraud. Julie Wartell and Nancy G. La Vigne. 2004. 
ISBN: 1-932582-33-9 
25. 
Identity Theft. Graeme R. Newman. 2004 ISBN: 1-932582-35-3 
26. 
Crimes Against Tourists. Ronald W. Glesnor and Kenneth J. Peak. 
2004 ISBN: 1-932582-36-3 
27. 
Underage Drinking. Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2004 ISBN: 1-932582-39-8 


Response Guides series: 

 The Benefits and Consequences of Police Crackdowns. 
Michael S. Scott. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-24-X 

 
Closing Streets and Alleys to Reduce Crime: Should You Go 
Down This Road? Ronald V. Clarke. 2004 ISBN: 1-932582-41-X 
Problem-Solving Tools series: 

 
Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide for 
Police Problem-Solvers. John E. Eck. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-19-3 


Upcoming Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides 
Disorder at Budget Motels 
Domestic Violence 
Mentally Ill Persons 
Robbery of Taxi Drivers 
Student Party Disturbances on College Campuses 


Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Vandalism and Break-Ins at Schools 
Street Racing 
Bomb Threats in Schools 
Drug Dealings in Open-Air Markets 
Illicit Sexual Activity in Public Places 
Drunk Driving 
Cruising 
Bank Robbery 

Problem-Solving Tools 
Analyzing Repeat Victimization 
Using Offender Interviews to Inform Police Problem-Solving 

Other Related COPS Office Publications 

 
Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook 
for Law Enforcement. Timothy S. Bynum. 
 
Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First 
20 Years. Michael S. Scott. 2001. 
 
Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems: 
Case Studies in Problem-Solving. Rana Sampson and 
Michael S. Scott. 2000. 
 
Community Policing, Community Justice, and 
Restorative Justice: Exploring the Links for the 
Delivery of a Balanced Approach to Public Safety. 
Caroline G. Nicholl. 1999. 

 
Toolbox for Implementing Restorative Justice and 
Advancing Community Policing. Caroline G. Nicholl. 
2000. 
 
Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing 
Crime and Disorder Through Problem-Solving 
Partnerships. Karin Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott 
Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg Townsend. 1998. 




 
Bringing Victims into Community Policing. The 
National Center for Victims of Crime and the Police 
Foundation. 2002. 
 
Call Management and Community Policing. Tom 
McEwen, Deborah Spence, Russell Wolff, Julie Wartell 
and Barbara Webster. 2003. 
 
Crime Analysis in America. Timothy C. OShea and 
Keith Nicholls. 2003. 
 
Problem Analysis in Policing. Rachel Boba. 2003. 
 
Reducing Theft at Construction Sites: Lessons 
From a Problem-Oriented Project. Ronald V. Clarke 
and Herman Goldstein. 2003. 
 
The COPS Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build, 
Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships. Gwen O. 
Briscoe, Anna T. Laszlo and Tammy A. Rinehart. 
2001. 
 
The Law Enforcement Tech Guide: How to plan, 
purchase and manage technology (successfully!). 
Kelly J. Harris and William H. Romesburg. 2002. 

 Theft From Cars in Center City Parking 
Facilities - A Case Study. Ronald V. Clarke and 
Herman Goldstein. 2003. 

For more information about the Problem-Oriented Guides for 
Police series and other COPS Office publications, please call 
the Department of Justice Response Center at 800.421.6770 
or visit COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov. 


FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

U.S. Department of JusticeOffice of Community Oriented Policing Services 

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W. 
Washington, D.C. 20530 

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the 
COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770 

Visit COPS Online at the address listed below. 

DOJ Seal