By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    Kate Thompson, manager of Amato’s in the Oak Hill area of Scarborough, said angry customers have called to complain after her employees have refused to sell them alcohol, but she stresses to her employees they have the right to refuse service.
    The store’s policy to refuse out of state I.D.s and to card anyone who looks under 30 years of age was put to the test last Saturday as the Scarborough Police Department conducted its first retail alcohol compliance check in a joint operation with the South Portland Police Department.
    The detail commenced in Scarborough, where the 18 year old volunteer attempted to purchase alcohol from 16 stores. The volunteer was instructed to give the clerk his real date of birth if asked and to say he didn’t have his I.D. if asked for proof of age. State law requires clerks to card anyone who looks to be under the age of 27.
    “It’s the first time the unit has been able to reach out to this area of liquor enforcement,” said Scarborough Police Sergeant John O’Malley. “We’ve never had a proactive division before.”
    O’Malley said partnering with South Portland allowed the two departments to share costs and manpower.
    The South Portland Police Department typically conducts two compliance checks per year. Last year, approximately half of the stores sold to the underage volunteer, according to Officer Jeffrey Caldwell of the Selective Enforcement Unit.
    “Our goal is zero-that’s what we like to see,” said Caldwell.
    This year, he said, the department decided to conduct the detail after hosting two nights of “Alcohol Seller Server Training” earlier this year for bar and retail licensees.  
       Caldwell said the department signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Maine Department of Public Safety’s Liquor Licensing and Compliance Division, which authorizes police and sheriff departments to write administrative violations. He said the department is trying to set up a course in Cumberland County to train officers in writing the violations. While waiting for the final authorization to come through, the department files referrals to the state.   
    According to the Department of Public Safety’s Web site, the MOUs became effective last July, three years after the Bureau of Liquor Enforcement was disbanded.
    Jeffrey Austin, Supervisor of the state’s Liquor Licensing and Inspections Unit, said the bureau was disbanded largely due to budgetary constraints. Austin said approximately 40 police departments and sheriff departments have signed the contract, which can be cancelled by either party at any time.
    “It gives the local departments the authority to enter licensed premises specifically to do compliance checks and look for violations of liquor laws,” Austin said. He said the fact that a police officer could walk into a store at any time to do a compliance check is a “good deterrent” in itself.
    Scarborough Officer Ted Mahar, who was part of last week’s detail, said in the past officers would observe a location and check the I.D.s of people coming out of the store with alcohol. First Stop Convenience on County Road in Scarborough is one store that officers have kept an eye on in the past, said Mahar.
    During last Saturday’s check of 16 Scarborough stores, however, First Stop did not allow a sale. The three locations that did sell to the underage volunteer were Gail’s Sub-Deli on Route One, Oak Hill Beverage and Redemption, and Hannaford Supermarket in Oak Hill.  
    “Shocked is a good way to put it,” said O’Malley on Monday of the detail’s results. He added, however, “I think the three stores that sold are more an indication on the clerk, not so much the store itself.”
    The Scarborough and South Portland officers alike were surprised by the sale at Oak Hill Beverage and Redemption since the business largely revolves around the sale of alcohol. The sales clerk on duty, Gerry Thibodeau, said he usually cards everyone, but added, “with alcohol it’s basically a judgment call.”
    Larger, corporate stores, such as Hannaford, tend to have strict policies and give their employees more training and warnings that if they don’t follow the guidelines they will lose their jobs, said Mahar.  
    A check of 25 stores in South Portland turned up zero violations. With Portland’s compliance checks recently in the media, South Portland Officer Ken Cronin said on Monday, “It looks like South Portland was paying attention to the news.”
    “I think it’s just an education issue,” he said. “I think the people are more aware that the police are checking for violations.”
    With the exception of one store that was closed, several South Portland stores, which Caldwell said had posed problems in the past, made it through the check without any violations.  
    Austin said retail stores and bars facing their first violation are typically given fines of $550 to the licensee and $190 to the seller, server, or clerk, but those figures depend on the age of the minor involved.
    If a store received its first violation after selling to a 17 year old, Austin said, the licensee could face a fine of $1,800 and suspension of the store’s liquor license. In that case, he said the clerk would also face a “hefty fine.”