By Hector Gonzalez
Staff Writer

March 13, 2015 -- If a young-looking person hits you up to buy some liquor this weekend, don’t do it. You could just get snared in a sting operation.

Using under-age cadets and other volunteers, Santa Monica police will conduct a “shoulder tap” decoy operation at undisclosed locations around the City on Saturday, part of a statewide crackdown on under-age drinking being done by nearly 100 different law enforcement agencies across California, police announced.

“The goal is to reduce crime on the street by arresting adults who furnish alcohol to minors and arresting persons for other crimes such as parole violations or warrants for their arrest,” said Santa Monica Police Department Sgt. Rudy Camarena.

The statewide crackdown is timed to coincide with pre-St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, said John Carr, spokesman for the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which provided the funding for Saturday’s operation.

“The timing is good, because we now that underage drinking accelerates on St. Patrick’s Day weekend and the weekend preceding St. Patrick’s Day,” said Carr. “In addition, spring break is just around the corner. So it’s a good time raise awareness about underage drinking.”

The fine for buying and providing alcohol to a minor can be as high as $1,000 per offense, Carr said.

Each year, the ABC’s IMPACT program provides mini-grants ranging from $7,400 to $25,000 a year to police agencies to combat underage drinking and alcohol-related crime and educate alcohol licensees about state laws, the agency’s website says.

Santa Monica last year received $10,700 ABC mini-grant, one of 20 police agencies around the state to receive IMPACT funding. The grant money, which pays for police overtime and other costs, must be used by September 30.

Although it’s sometimes treated lightly by Hollywood teen flicks, underage drinking “is a serious problem,” said Carr.

“I was looking at some stats today and counted more than 130 fatal accidents involving underage drinking in 2013,” he said, adding the statistics didn’t include other deaths such as alcohol poisoning among teens.

“Parents need to talk about it with their teens,” said Carr. “We hope everyone does.”