FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Melrose Police Receive Grant to Combat Underage Drinking

MELROSE — Chief Michael L. Lyle announces that the Melrose Police Department has secured an almost $5,000 grant to combat underage drinking.

The funding — which is administered by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Highway Safety Division and funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — will be used to increase patrols from March through Labor Day.

Melrose police will conduct additional compliance checks for minors at bars, restaurants and retail locations, and ramp-up surveillance and party patrols. The goal will be to prevent and decrease the sale and consumption of alcohol by minors. Over the past three years, activities under this grant have resulted in 917 youth citations and 377 arrests. An additional 574 citations were issued to adults, and 249 adult arrests were made across the Commonwealth.

“We are pleased to be one of the recipients of this year’s grant, as it allows us to increase our patrol efforts,” Chief Lyle said. “We urge parents to never host parties for their underage children, and remind businesses to be vigilant about checking IDs. We will be monitoring the entire city, especially areas where teens are known to be drinking, to prevent underage youth from engaging in this activity.”

According to NHTSA, in 2013, 29 percent of young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes had blood alcohol concentrations of .01 or higher. Of those drivers who tested positive for alcohol, 82 percent of them had BACs of .08 or higher. NHTSA estimates that minimum drinking-age laws have saved 29,834 lives nationwide since 1975.

Melrose is one of 72 Massachusetts communities that received part of the $490,960 in total funding from the NHTSA. Average allocations ranged from $2,000 to $15,000.

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