Like them or not, under cover police checks are a fact of licensed premises life and operators have to bend over backwards to comply, says one Wellington hospitality operator after a major blitz in the city last month.
Wellington police were not happy when four out of six city bars, checked during a Controlled Purchase Operation (CPO), sold liquor to under age teenagers.
Police Inspector Richard Chambers was reported as being extremely disappointed, especially as it had been well publicised that police would be out in force.
Jeremy Smith, director of the Trinity Group which has a stable of bars throughout Wellington and the lower North Island, has slated the CPO system, saying it’s unfair and treats honest businessmen as criminals. Neverthless the Trinity Group has recently introduced its own internal CPO checks.
If we don’t get it right the cost to the business can be enormous, says Smith.
“Trinity’s perspective on CPOs is they are inherently unfair and not a good measure of identifying which sites are blatantly breaching regulations and allowing under age people into their premises.
“We are not being treated like honest business people. When police use these operations, just as they do for criminal communities, it’s like we are being treated as criminals when in fact most of us are bending over backwards to comply.
“It’s such a one-off scenario. When the police sting comes in a staff member you have trained, who is conscientious and gets it right nine times out of ten might get distracted, make one mistake and the bar can be closed for one or more days.”
Repercussions can be huge, agrees Sara Tucker, HANZ southern North Island regional manager. “On first offence it is closure for a day on the day the sale was made which is always a Friday or Saturday. In monetary terms this can be thousands or tens of thousand of dollars. Recently there have been some very severe penalties.
“Most operators have great systems in place, take their responsibilities very seriously and do all they can – but it only takes one staff member to make a bad call on the night.”
In some of our bars the staff are making a hundred or more judgement calls a day, says Smith.
“There are too many variables that can occur. Our view is a better option is that when the police come in to check for intoxication and under age drinkers, as they do from time to time, if there is a large percentage of minors alarm bells should go off and if they return a second time and find the same then they should throw the book at that publican.”
There should also be personal responsibility, adds Smith.
“There are no consequences for minors presenting false IDs, yet the bar owner can be penalised for serving someone whose ID appears to be legal. It’s like you report a burglary in your house and the police prosecute you for not having adequate security.”
If you can’t beat them, join them, is the Trinity mantra. “We already run our own host responsibility and harm minimisation programme and induction and formal training that includes liquor licensing rules and regulations.
"Six months ago we introduced our own internal CPOs because we were so concerned about the consequences of failing an actual one. In Wellington we run these at least once a week, we can’t use under age people because that’s illegal so we have young looking people who are over 18. We ask staff to ID anyone who looks under the age of 25.”
It’s not about punishment, he adds. “When staff follow the correct process they are rewarded.
“We’ve only had one failure and that was a grey area because the person ordered water not alcohol. We’re very happy with the results, it means the staff become more comfortable about ID-ing, it gives them practise and awareness and the opportunity to get it right when there is no pressure.”
In most sites Trinity also keeps the current under age date displayed on the till as a reference point for staff to check.
HANZ offers a template: ‘Acknowledgement of Responsibility to Check Identification” for members, says Sara Tucker, warning if the Alcohol Reform Bill passes with its present ‘three strikes and your out’ clause then failing a CPO will have even greater implications for licensees.
Smith, who is also HANZ Wellington branch chairman, is similarly concerned. “If staff get it wrong three times in three years you could lose your licence. I really hope by the time the Bill gets through all its readings it will have been amended to be more sensible and practical.”
Liquor regulations and CPOs: Advice from HANZ
It is important for licensees to have robust systems in place and if a sale is made they can demonstrate this to the LLA.
These will include:
- host responsibility plan in place and all requisite signage etc
- training of all staff in ID ing everyone who appears to be under 25,
- not relying on the doorstaff solely but checking at the bar too,
- supporting documentation - clauses in Employment Agreements and House Rules to the effect that any sales to minors will result in disciplinary action (many will treat this as a summary dismissal).