PORTSMOUTH — If you’re under 21 and live on Aquidneck Island, you might think twice about putting that Budweiser or Fireball Whiskey to your lips.

Armed with a five-year, $1.125 million Partnerships for Success (PFS) grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Newport County Prevention Coalition has teamed up with local police in ramping up efforts to battle underage drinking.

“Part of the strategies associated with (the PSF grant) is law enforcement,” Rebecca Elwell, director of the Newport County Prevention Coalition, said of the grant, which pertains to Aquidneck Island only. “Part of that is making sure we’re keeping alcohol out of the hands of local youth, part of that is making sure that local vendors are not selling to kids and are checking IDs. Also, we’ve got the police departments engaged in strategies like party patrols and beach patrols during the right season. The hope is that the community coalitions can bring resources to police. That’s part of this grant’s goal.”

Added Scott McGovney, a member of the regional coalition who’s also the PFS grant coordinator, “We’re taking a proactive stance, working with law enforcement,” he said. 

The initiative’s first step was getting local police trained. 

“On Nov. 12, we had a training session with a current member of the Connecticut State Police who lectured about compliance checks, party patrols, social hosting,” Mr. McGovney said. “I think the main effort for educational purposes is to make officers more aware of their surroundings when working with youth, particularly with binge drinking and the toxic effects. That’s that this whole thing is about — the risks.”

Another regional coalition member, Sgt. Rick Ruest, was one of seven Portsmouth Police officers who attended the training.

“One of the things I took away was the delivery systems and the toxicity of either the binge drinking or the illicit drug use such as marijuana and the THC levels, and how it effects the underage drinking or user. It can be almost instantaneous as far as the toxicity goes,” he said.

Although the coalition wants all island police departments to get involved and share information no underage drinking prevention, one was absent from the training.

“Middletown and Portsmouth were in attendance at that training, as was an officer from Little Compton,” Ms. Elwell said. “Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to us at this time, the five officers from Newport who were scheduled to attend were unavailable that day. Five were signed up. I’m hoping they take advantage of the opportunity next time.”

It’s important to have a strong partnership with police, Mr.  McGoveney said. “I can reach out to (Sgt. Ruest) and ask him, ‘Hey, what’s going on this weekend?’ and I’ll get an answer back, which I might not receive from a different police department. 

Party patrols

Part of the focus on underage drinking includes increased party patrols, but Ms Elwell made it clear that doesn’t mean police are “rolling up on the scene flashing their lights and putting their sirens on while kids scatter into the woods.”

Rather, it involves “controlled” party dispersal techniques. “There is a controlled way of managing that to ensure everyone’s safety,” she said.

Sgt. Ruest said police “have a few issues” with houses rented out by college students. 

“We follow up with Roger Williams and the landlord or the owner of the house,” he said. “We try to do the best we can with what we have, but everything is contingent on being able to address the party at the time it happens and also if there are any laws are being violated. We might have 50 kids there, but we can’t say definitely that the underage people there have consumed alcohol. A lot of the times we get there, it’s for a noise complaint.”

Portsmouth Police has a PROUD (Portsmouth Residents Opposed to Underage Drinking) tip line, which can be accessed at 683-0300. “We will take any tip and leave it anonymous,” Sgt. Ruest said.

The coalition is still trying to get clarity on whether the Good Samaritan Law, which gives legal protection to people who help others who are injured, ill or in peril, can be applied to house parties and “social host” situations. 

Ms. Elwell said it clearly absolves someone from responsibility if they call to report a drug overdose, however.

“I would hope someone errs on the side of the health and safety of a human being,” Ms. Elwell said. “I would like the answer to be, Good Samaritan always trumps anything else like social host liability. Let’s make sure we’re making the phone call to save a life.”

‘Lock Up Your Liquor’

The social access component of the underage drinking initiative includes a “Lock Up Your Liquor” campaign, which is a reminder to parents to make sure their children don’t have easy access to their alcoholic beverages at home.

“Young people indicate to us that their first access to alcohol is their own parents’ liquor cabinets or refrigerators — or from their friends’ parents,” Ms. Elwell said. “Parents say, ‘My kids would never steal from me.’ But (kids) don’t think of it as stealing. They don’t think of taking a glass of orange juice as stealing. It’s there, and they take advantage of the access.”

This is an appropriate time of the year for the campaign, which is done in partnership with liquor stores and other alcohol vendors, she noted. 

“They have fliers up as just a reminder to parents: Make sure you know what you’ve got and it’s secure,” she said, adding that vendors usually stick a flyer into a bad when a customer checks out.

Compliance checks

Speaking of liquor stores, they’re the subject of increased compliance checks thanks to the grant, although local stores have not generally posed a problem, both Ms. Elwell and Sgt. Ruest said.

“The businesses that are compliant don’t mind it, because they’re compliant,” he said.

Mr. McGovney said police are careful not to use “decoys” — underage volunteers who go into the establishments, trying to buy liquor — from the same community.

“We’re using college-age students, but younger-looking ones. If you use kids, you’re setting yourself up for liability,” he said.

The checks are not intended to “entrap” a liquor vendor, Ms. Elwell added. “(Decoys) are not 20-year-old kids who look like they’re 28. These are 19- or 20-year-old kids who look their age,” she said.

Educating youth

The initiative is also aimed at educating kids on the risks of underage drinking. 

“One of the things with kids that we know is that their perception of risk really impacts whether they’ll do something or not. We want them to know there is risk,” said Ms. Elwell.

Among the risks are being caught by police, or parents or coaches who will hold them accountable, plus physical risks, assaultive behavior and more.

“There’s a component for working with kids who are at higher risk than average, so we’re expanding student assistance on Aquidneck Island,” said Ms. Elwell. “We are also thinking about working with Salve, Roger Williams on some of the college binge-drinking.” 

Workplace drinking is another area of focus under the grant. “Many of our high school students are employed in the service industry, whether it be at a restaurant or marina or some resort-type scenario in Newport. Kids are after-shift drinking with their much older colleagues,” she said.