Thurston County sees spike in teens stealing booze
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Since private stores started selling hard liquor in June, more teenagers in Thurston county are shoplifting booze that's now available at grocery stores.
At least 20 teenagers have been charged with stealing spirits from Thurston County grocery stores, but that tally doesn't include charges of minors in possession, which can be leveled when a teen has alcohol on them, but hasn't left the store. The tally also doesn't include people who are between 18 and 20 years old, The Olympian reported Sunday.
"Obviously our focus is on kids not having access to unlawful substances. We don't think stores are taking any steps to minimize the access that juveniles have to alcohol, primarily, through theft," said juvenile prosecutor Wayne Graham.
The voter-approved Initiative 1183 privatized liquor, making spirits available to buy at grocery stores around the state.
Authorities say they've also seen more reports of alcohol use at schools
Retailers asked by The Olympian about the problem of liquor thefts by minors either did not respond or said they were working on ways to minimize shoplifting.
As for the size of the problem, the Washington State Organized Retail Crime Alliance indicated about $18,000 to $20,000 in liquor thefts - by adults as well as by minors - took place from mid-September to the end of October, according to the state Liquor Control Board's enforcement and education chief, Justin Nordhorn.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs recently sent a letter to the Liquor Control Board, asking it to require retailers to keep track of and report liquor thefts.
"We're only catching a small percent of what's happening," Graham said. "We are not getting all of the alcohol-related incidents referred for criminal charges."
Local police, youth advocates and school officials agreed with Graham's criticisms.
"We have noted an increase in alcohol-related reports by the schools, and this has become a proliferating problem that needs to be addressed," said Tumwater police detective Jen Kolb.
The number of alcohol-related incidents routed to the juvenile prosecutor's office has gone up in the three largest Thurston County school districts - North Thurston, Olympia and Tumwater - since liquor privatization, Graham said.
But school officials in Tumwater and Olympia said they had not noticed a marked increase in alcohol-related incidents involving students since June 1.
In an email to The Olympian, Safeway public affairs director Sara Osborne said the company is working on the problem of minors stealing from its store near North Thurston High School.
School officials and police have said they are concerned that the store's liquor is sold in the same aisle as soft drinks and energy drinks where students congregate.
Joel Benoliel, senior vice president of Costco, the Kirkland-based chain that helped bankroll the initiative that took alcohol out of state control, said the argument that more teens will have access to liquor because of privatization is "specious."
"Teenagers have always had access to alcohol," he said, pointing out that about 30 states allow grocery stores and retailers to sell spirits.
Though even one teen stealing liquor is too many, the number of youths doing it because of privatization is "statistically insignificant," Benoliel said.
Benoliel said he believes opponents of privatization are making an issue of liquor shoplifting by teens because they want to try to repeal the new law.
"You have people who are sore losers and are trying to make a political point," he said.
At least 20 teenagers have been charged with stealing spirits from Thurston County grocery stores, but that tally doesn't include charges of minors in possession, which can be leveled when a teen has alcohol on them, but hasn't left the store. The tally also doesn't include people who are between 18 and 20 years old, The Olympian reported Sunday.
"Obviously our focus is on kids not having access to unlawful substances. We don't think stores are taking any steps to minimize the access that juveniles have to alcohol, primarily, through theft," said juvenile prosecutor Wayne Graham.
The voter-approved Initiative 1183 privatized liquor, making spirits available to buy at grocery stores around the state.
Authorities say they've also seen more reports of alcohol use at schools
Retailers asked by The Olympian about the problem of liquor thefts by minors either did not respond or said they were working on ways to minimize shoplifting.
As for the size of the problem, the Washington State Organized Retail Crime Alliance indicated about $18,000 to $20,000 in liquor thefts - by adults as well as by minors - took place from mid-September to the end of October, according to the state Liquor Control Board's enforcement and education chief, Justin Nordhorn.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs recently sent a letter to the Liquor Control Board, asking it to require retailers to keep track of and report liquor thefts.
"We're only catching a small percent of what's happening," Graham said. "We are not getting all of the alcohol-related incidents referred for criminal charges."
Local police, youth advocates and school officials agreed with Graham's criticisms.
"We have noted an increase in alcohol-related reports by the schools, and this has become a proliferating problem that needs to be addressed," said Tumwater police detective Jen Kolb.
The number of alcohol-related incidents routed to the juvenile prosecutor's office has gone up in the three largest Thurston County school districts - North Thurston, Olympia and Tumwater - since liquor privatization, Graham said.
But school officials in Tumwater and Olympia said they had not noticed a marked increase in alcohol-related incidents involving students since June 1.
In an email to The Olympian, Safeway public affairs director Sara Osborne said the company is working on the problem of minors stealing from its store near North Thurston High School.
School officials and police have said they are concerned that the store's liquor is sold in the same aisle as soft drinks and energy drinks where students congregate.
Joel Benoliel, senior vice president of Costco, the Kirkland-based chain that helped bankroll the initiative that took alcohol out of state control, said the argument that more teens will have access to liquor because of privatization is "specious."
"Teenagers have always had access to alcohol," he said, pointing out that about 30 states allow grocery stores and retailers to sell spirits.
Though even one teen stealing liquor is too many, the number of youths doing it because of privatization is "statistically insignificant," Benoliel said.
Benoliel said he believes opponents of privatization are making an issue of liquor shoplifting by teens because they want to try to repeal the new law.
"You have people who are sore losers and are trying to make a political point," he said.
"We don't think stores are taking any steps to minimize the access that juveniles have to alcohol, primarily, through theft,"
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So the stores want people to steal from them? Okay...
probably best anyway, hopefully some of these people will take themselves out of the gene pool. Parenting with actual disipline would prevent the majority of this. Kids that are not punished by ther parents have not respect for themselves, their parents, or anybody else.
They need to put it all in a cage. I dont get why they havent all done that already.
More teens need to attend Vacation Bible School
Kids were always able to get alcohol even as far back as the 60s because they all know someone who will buy it for them so what's new?Â
Why does it not surprise me that the very agencies who were so against it are now saying these things. I'm sure there are still things to work out of this very new system and that the grocery stores will address the issues. Where are Mom and Dad's booze kept? Surely the kids would never get their hands on booze if the grocery stores weren't selling it. I doubt the stores are overlooking any losses because it affects their bottom line.....Profit.
And DO NOT tell me this wasn't foreseen. Attempting to dismantle any government oversight does not always lead to happy drum circles of enlightened Libertarians doing as they please at all times without impacts.Â
And all of you think no young adult is going to be able to get pot also. The kids are going to get pot easier and traffic accidents and other crime is going to go up.
I guess Costco was wrong....what a shocker.
 @Common Sense You know, I remember something about separate areas for the booze at Costco...sorta like they do with tobacco...
Wishful thinking, I guess.
 @OrcasThunder  @Common Sense Gee. It sounds like posters are saying it was better when booze when sold in state government run liquor stores. I guess smaller government doesn't always work.
 @Darn it!  @Common Sense Does seem that way, doesn't it?
I have been in some stores where the liquor aisle is less than 20 feet from a door. Kids could enter the store, grab some bottles and then be out in just a couple seconds and into a car.
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With all sorts of stores selling liquor, it's no wonder that liquor thefts are a problem. IF the stores are griping about losses like this, maybe they should have thought about selling liquor in the first place. Or at least used some common sense when it came to finding a spot on the floor to insure that stealing liquor would be difficult.
Don't put it on the shelves. Put scan-able tickets with pictures of the product on the shelf. Grab the ticket.....show I.D. and pay for it at the register. Drive around back of the store and pick up your product at a drive-through window type set-up. Show id there again as you hand in your ticket.. That would be my idea for large grocery stores.  Could even be a semi-truck type situation.
 @achoo2 Wow, that's a neat idea. Is that being done somewhere?Â
@mandy h  Not that I know of, but Sears used to have a pick-up window type operation for big ticket items and that's what made me think of this possibility.
Yeah, I remember that at Sears. It will be interesting to see if any stores pick up on your idea.Â
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Even if they don't want to use a drive-through system, why not just a dedicated clerk behind a window where you turn your ticket over to and they'd go pick it off the shelf and bring it to the window where you could purchase it separately from your groceries?
And before that they did beer runs. This is not news.
Not surprised at all. I remember posting this very concern and everyone laughed at me. The liquor stores had a hard line that anyone under 21 could not enter the store. Now those underage have access to steal not only beer and wine but hard liquor. Welcome to the new Russia!
since most store policies say you can't touch people or follow them outside (there are liability issues) the only thing any store can do is say, "stop!" And how many people stop? EAS tags, liquor caps, section control--the only workable solution is the one at Winco where it's all behind customer service. Except for major stores with a bigger labor budget (and let's not forget the guards at Fry's) there's no such thing as a door security guard. And yes, surveillance tape is great for seeing how many times you're ripped off. It's not like the camera bites them or something.
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Don't talk about "the stores need to do more" when they're doing all they can and you can't come up with workable solutions that deal with both labor cost, liability issues and the risk a clerk takes every time they go into the middle of a bunch of teenaged kids to get them "away" from the liquor. It's the fault of all those brainwashed people who believed Costco's propaganda (they have great security! And better profit now, thanks) and voted yes.
lol, the store don't have to sell it if they don't want to or can't secure their product....
Ok, so what did they think would happen till the stores get better security on the hard booze. Don't expect the lion to ignore a fresh hunk of beef laying there and kids an booze are the same. Stores need to take more responsibility in their display, surveillance, and tracking to control their losses and keep the kids out of it. I would like to see a 21 or older section with all the booze kept in it. That would do a lot to control tings. Now I see it at the ends of isles, near the door and all over the place enticing anyone (kids included) to grab one and run. Time to get smart folks and install come controls on it. There are thousands more places for kids to get access to it now with it being handled in stores and bottle shoppes.
Well what do they expect. You have all these idiots that voted yes so they could quickly have access to their to their next fix. Now they are paying higher prices and they made it much more easy for kids to get a hold it. Now there is a rise in alcohol related crashes and deaths involving teens. Way to go Costco and all the drunkards out there.
NO! Â Really?
If only we could have foreseen this. Â Oh wait ...
well maybe stores ought to safegaurd their products better?
This is only the beginning !
Thanks to whoever made this "OUT-OF-CONTROL DECISION " !
 @scychan How thanking about all the voters who voted this in?
Well tell me something I don't know! Duh!