Senior Sarah Hess serves junior Jake Menker at Hole in the Wall Bar. (Mike Chioran | The Miami Student)
The Oxford Police Department (OPD) sends officers in plain clothes to patrol "undercover" in bars and liquor stores, according to OPD Sgt. Jon Varley. In these situations, officers look for underage suspects who purchase or consume alcohol, as well as those who provide it.
Underage sophomore Becky Goff said she went to Oxford Spirits, 21 E. Lynn Ave., and used a fictitious ID to buy alcohol. Then, a plainclothes OPD officer stopped her as she was about to leave.
"The undercover cop was just wandering around the store, he came up to me and asked to see my ID after I gave it to the guy working already," Goff said.
The officer confiscated the ID and Goff left the store without the alcohol.
Goff said the officer acted and dressed like a pedestrian. The illusion was convincing until he showed her his badge. She called the practice "vindictive."
"I think it's completely unfair because if you are going to try to arrest people, then you should be upfront about it," Goff said. "You shouldn't have to hide, because [officers] are there to protect people, not to trick them."
Varley said the department may send officers into bars and liquor stores. These officers are dressed in plain clothing and are often younger looking.
OPD also occasionally employs the help of underage volunteers. An officer will pull up near a liquor store or bar and let the volunteer out with sufficient cash. The volunteer will then enter the establishment and attempt to buy liquor with the given cash and without an ID. In general, the volunteers are obviously underage. Successful or not, the volunteer will then return immediately to the cruiser and, if necessary, hands over the liquor. Then, the officer goes in and issues citation, if appropriate.
Varley said volunteers are often students who are interested in police work or those who want to volunteer for the police.
Vijay Chirra works at The U-Shop, 21 E. High St. He said police send in students without IDs to make sure they check for them.
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"When they are doing those things it means we are not selling to underage kids," Chirra said.
As clerks would be unaware an undercover check had occurred, Chirra said OPD sends a letter recognizing that they were randomly checked and passed.
Varley said officers occasionally pose as a clerk or a customer, observing the situation. According to Varley, they check up on liquor stores several times a year and bars more frequently. He said this process is successful and all it takes is a couple of arrests for people to be aware of the possible presence of plainclothes officers. Some undercover officers are pretty young and look like college students, Varley said.
People interested in police work and volunteering to go undercover can contact Varley at OPD.
Correction: To clarify an error in the original edition of the story, Becky Goff was not issued any citation by OPD relating to the recounted incident.
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