By: Courtney Armpriester
Undercover cops wear a lot of different hats—investigating drug sales and underage alcohol consumption may come to mind first. In reality, those are small aspects of the job. Covert agents from the Ohio Investigative Unit (OIU) are responsible for so many other tasks: from food stamp fraud, to trace-backs in alcohol-involved car crashes. A few weeks ago, I got a small taste of a day in the life of one of these agents. From 5 p.m. to about 12:30 a.m. I rode along on an alcohol compliance check.
An alcohol compliance check is essentially a test to make sure businesses are obeying the law, and only serving alcohol to customers over the age of 21.
On Saturday, Feb. 24th, I rode-along with two undercover agents as they visited three counties in their district. I was present for two: Lancaster and Muskingum counties.
Businesses land on the compliant list after someone contacts OIU and reports that the location is violating the state's liquor laws, including serving or furnishing alcohol to minors. These calls can come from anyone, even ex-employees or off-duty officers.
Agents hire a confidential informant (CI) between the ages of 17 and 19 to purchase alcohol. The CI wears a wire connected to a FM one-way radio, which is monitored by the agents.
Everything is as transparent as possible—no lies, no tricks. If asked for her identification she hands over her real ID. If asked her age, she will answer honestly.
A covert agent, dressed in plain clothing, will enter first to assess that the scene is safe. Next the CI will enter and attempt to purchase alcohol.
If the business does serve the CI, the agents will identify themselves and explain the situation to the manager or bartender. Given the atmosphere of the business, the agents will then conduct an inspection—essentially looking for items that do not belong or unsanitary conditions.
Citations may be written.
Now, during an alcohol compliance check, officers take extra precautions for the safety of their CI. This means they may choose not to immediately conduct enforcement of illegal activities seen separate of the compliance check; however, this is a case-by-case basis.
From my experience, the day in the life of an undercover agent means a lot of time spent driving, since the district covers more than 16 southeast Ohio counties. We stopped at about 10 businesses, from a popular chain restaurant, to a carry-out, to a bowling alley—none of which sold to the CI. I rode-along for about five hours (minus a stop to grab dinner), before our first illegal sale— The Muddy Boot in Zanesville.
The whole process took about 40 minutes. I’ll explain the interaction step-by-step.
10:20 P.M.
The CI enters the bar. She walks right past the security guard, without being questioned, and straight to the bar.
She orders a beer and is served without the bartender checking her I.D. The CI is then offered a free Jell-O shot.
The CI exits the bar. Another covert agent confirms the purchase over the radio.
Another agent begins pre-filling out a civil violation notice before entering the bar to save time.
10:30 P.M.
Agents enter the bar and identify themselves to management. They explain his violation and asks to see the liquor permit's records. Another agent begins an inspection of the bar. OIU agents can conduct these administrative inspections at any time, all to ensure the establishment is operating within code.
The covert agents shine flashlights inside beer coolers and underneath bottles in search of unsanitary conditions or unregistered products.
Agents discover gnats inside one brandy bottle, a bottle of unregistered moonshine and coolers that are not kept up to proper code.
11 P.M.
Agent finishes writing the civil violation notice—citing, in total, five citations.
- Sale of beer to a person under the age of 21
- Furnishing to a person under the age of 21
- Unregistered product
- Giving away alcohol in conjunction to the business
- Alcoholic beverages not maintained in potable conditions
The agent hands over a copy of the notice, shakes hands with the bar manager and leaves.
This agent’s shift officially ends around 2 a.m., but with drive time he doesn’t return home until about 3 a.m. An agent’s day is long, typically routine, but can change in an instant. When asked to sum up his daily routine, one agent described it as, “mass confusion that we have to sort out, plus paperwork and long-term investigations.”
A covert agent’s job is just like any other officer’s: to keep the public safe. Yes, investigating underage alcohol usage is part of the job, but it is only one task out of many. As both agents agreed,
“We do so much more.”