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Home » Iowa website educates service industry about illegal alcohol sales

Iowa website educates service industry about illegal alcohol sales

Submitted by Administrator on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 08:31

Iowa retail businesses, bars, and restaurants have a new tool at their disposal when educating staff on proper sales and consumption of alcohol. This week multiple state agencies partnered to unveil Iowa's Alcohol Law Enforcement/Retail Training (I-ALERT) at IAlert.iowa.gov. The I-ALERT web site primarily functions as a policy creation tool.

Retail establishments like convenience, grocery and liquor stores can use the site to create a custom policy regarding the sale of alcohol. Suggested subsections for in-store policies relate to Iowa law, avoiding sales to the under aged and the intoxicated, and recommended action when a fake ID is spotted. Likewise, the policy creation tool for restaurants and bars suggests businesses include policy sections on how to avoid over serving when a patron is drinking on premises.

Once created, business owners then have a policy to help legally protect themselves, as well as a great tool for educating employees on Iowa law and responsible service. The Iowa State Patrol has found that while officers perform compliance checks on retailers, they frequently find many of the employees selling alcohol to those under the age of 21 received limited training on alcohol laws and sales.

Through the launch of I-ALERT, the Patrol is hopeful that will change. Partner agencies sponsoring the I-ALERT are eager to assist Iowa's local business owners navigate training and policy issues related to illegal alcohol sales. If owners are better equipped to train sales staff, the chances of over serving or serving the under aged will decrease significantly for Iowa establishments.

I-ALERT sponsor agencies include the Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, the Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning of the Department of Human Rights, Alliance of Coalitions for Change, and the Governor's Office of Drug Control Policy. This project was developed with the assistance of Maine's WorkAlert policy tool and was designed and built by Iowa Interactive, a service of IOWAccess and managed by the Department of Administrative Services.

Click on the weblink for more information: http://iowaabd.com/about/updates/press_release/64.