Police get grant to enforce youth alcohol sales, etc.

The City of Canyon Lake is included in the focus of a project funded by a grant that will help battle alcohol-related harm in the community. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) for the project.

The funds will be used to reduce the number of alcoholic beverage sales to minors, obviously intoxicated patrons, illegal solicitations of alcohol, and other criminal activities such as the sale and possession of illegal drugs.

The project focus area is located in the Southwest corridor, which includes the cities of Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Temecula, and Wildomar.

“This is important to the county of Riverside in order to increase protection for youth and to shut down problem locations that have contributed to an increase in crime,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said.

The grant is one of several awarded in California to local law enforcement agencies through ABC’s Alcohol Policing Partnership (APP) program. The grants strengthen local law enforcement efforts by combining the talents of local police officers and ABC agents. ABC agents have expertise in alcoholic beverage laws and can help communities reduce alcohol-related harm.

“The program can improve the quality of life in neighborhoods,” ABC Director Eric Hirata said. “We’ve seen a real difference in the communities where the grant program resources have been invested.”

The APP program was created in 1995 to strengthen partnerships between ABC and local law enforcement agencies.

The program is designed to keep alcohol away from minors and prevent harm to the community. The APP program has distributed over $40 million to local law enforcement to combat alcohol-related harm.