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HomeMy WebLinkAbout37-City Attorney CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION From: James F. Penman Subject: Social Host Ordinance ,t: City Attorney MCC Date: June 6, 2011 Date: June 1,2011 Re: Social Host Ordinance Synopsis of Previous Council Action: None. Motion: That the Social Host Ordinance be referred to the Legislative Review Committee ~ (/ l~ Signature Contact person: James F. Penman Phone: 5255 Supporting data attached: Staffreport Ward: All FUNDING REQUIREMENTS: Amount: NI A Source: Finance: Council Notes: 75-0262 Agenda Item No. .::tF 0 7 O(P-CX,rC}(Jl! Office/Forms[blank.ReqForCouncilAction] INTER OFFICE MEMORANDUM OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO To: Mayor and Common Council From: James F. Penman City Attorney }J! Date: June 1,2011 Subject: Social Host Ordinance The Mayor's Office, the San Bernardino Police Department (SBPD), the City Attorney's Office and the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program partnered last year to enact a Deemed Approved Ordinance (DAO) to regulate establishments selling alcoholic beverages in the City of San Bernardino. The follow- up to that effort continues and the City Attorney's Office is currently working on the first enforcement referral from the SBPD. Initially, the DAO and the Social Host Ordinance (SHO) were both considered and it was determined that we would proceed with the DAO first, and then consider a Social Host Ordinance once the DAO was in place. We are now prepared, after considerable work/discussions by and between Officer Jesse Ludikhuize (SBPD), Amelia Lopez at the County Health Department's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Program, Kent Paxton in the Mayor's Office and Assistant City Attorney Jolena Grider to proceed to the Legislative Review Committee with a draft ordinance which should be ready for consideration by LRC at its June 21, 2011 meeting. The Social Host Ordinance is scheduled for discussion on June 2 at the Drug Free San Bernardino meeting in the MIC room. It is recommended that the Social Host Ordinance be referred to LRC for its' consideration at the June 21 st meeting of that Committee. Attachments: one City of San Bernardino San Bernardino Police Department Interoffice Memorandum To: Captain Scott paterson@ 1/$'/115 Officer Jesse LUdikhUiZ;/ ? Staff Study - Social Host Ordinance From: Subject: Date: June 29, 2010 Li,",_t Roy Ki"g~ko Copies: PROBLEM: In the City of San Bernardino there are multiple locations that host large parties where underage drinking and illegal drug use is present. This causes a repeated drain of police services due to the related calls for service. Currently, there is no local ordinance holding the host of parties and gatherings where underage drinking and illegal drug use is present, accountable for their actions. RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that Chief Kilmer present a request to the City Councils Legislative Committee to create and enact a Social Host Ordinance. FINDINGS: State law makes it illegal for adults to provide alcohol to children, CPC 272 (a)(l), unless it is for religious or other constitutionally protected reasons. The enforcement of this law is difficult for police officers because officers in the field must determine who provided the alcohol to the minors. Even when the host of a gathering knows alcohol is being consumed by minors or illegal drug use is present, if they do not provide the alcohol directly to the minor they can not be held accountable. In the City of San Bernardino the number of party calls has increased over the last five years. In 2009 there were 2002 party calls made to police dispatch. That is up from a low of 1457 party calls in 2006, a 27% increase. (See attachment A) From my field experience at least 30 percent of music calls to police dispatch are a result of parties in the area. In 2009 there were 5161 loud music calls for service. (See attachment A) At approximately two out of five of the parties underage drinking is present. The cornmon practice for officers at the scene of a party is to give the host a verbal warning about the loud noise. A second response to the same residence results in officers closing down the party by issuing a citation for violations of the municipal code (SBMC 8.54). A violation of this section of municipal code allows the city to bill the offender for the second TIlE SBPD IS OOMMlTIED TO PROVIDING, PROGRESSIVE QUAllTYPOUCE SERVICE; A SAFE ENVIRONMENT TO IMPROVE TIlE QUAllTY OF liFE; A REDUCTION IN CRIME 1HROUGHPROBLEM REmGNrnON AND PROBLEM SOLVING Page 2 response to the location within 72 hours of the written notice. Ifan Administrative Civil Penalty is given the cited person could be liable for no more then $1,000. A citation for loud noise does nothing to prevent the use of alcohol or drugs by minors at these parties. Underage drinking is the leading cause of death for teenagers under the age of 18 according to the American Medical Association. In the report "Reducing Underage Drinking-A Collective Responsibility," the American Medical Association found that the "Patterns and consequences of underage drinking are closely related to the overall extent and patterns of drinking in society and are affected by the same factors that affect adult consumption." Alcohol is the most commonly used illegal substance for minors. In a 2005 national survey by the U.S. Office of Applied Studies showed: . 70% of underage people stated they received their alcohol from parties. · 28.2% of underage people (age 12 to 20) consumed alcohol in the last month. · 18.8% admitted to binge drinking with 6% stating they were heavy drinkers. · 16.5% of people 12 to 17 years old have used alcohol in the last month. . 9.9% of minors in ages of 12 to 17 years old admitted to binge drinking in the last month. · 9.85% of people 18 to 20 years old admitted to drinking and driving. · 8.3 % of people 16 to 17 years old admitted to drinking and driving Parties and other social gatherings are the primary source of underage alcohol consumption and binge drinking. The American Medical Association states that underage drinking cannot be addressed by just focusing on the youth. To address underage drinking more comprehensively, society must also focus on the parents and other adults who provide the alcohol to the minors. State law makes the possession and consumption of alcohol by minors illegal in public but not on private property. Underage drinking and illegal drug use is common in cities where college campuses and large venues are present. In the City of San Bernardino both Valley College and Cal State San Bernardino have sorority and fraternities. Some ofthose organizations host parties where some underage members consume alcohol. Illegal drug use is common at some of the cities large venues. The resulting fights, traffic accidents, and other alcohol related calls for services are a drain on already stretched services. Fire and paramedic services are also required to respond to alcohol related calls for services, making them unavailable for other calls for services. Many cities and counties across the United States have created and enacted "Social Host Ordinances." One of the most recent government agencies to enact such policies is the County of San Bernardino on May 25th 20 I O. A Social Host Ordinance allows law enforcement to cite the individual who hosts a party where underage drinking takes place. Page 3 This ordinance makes the person hosting the party responsible for the actions of the people at their party. A Social Host Ordinance sends a clear message that drinking alcohol by persons under the age of 21 is illegal, dangerous, and unacceptable in the City of San Bernardino. Under this ordinance parents and adults would be held accountable for their role in permitting the consumption of alcohol by people under the age of 21. Responsible parents will also have another tool to protect their children from parties where alcohol is available without their knowledge. Currently, the cost associated with the response oflaw enforcement and other emergency personnel to gatherings where minors consume alcoholic beverages is not fully reimbursed. The use of Administrative Civil Penalties (ACP) would allow the city to recover some of the cost associated with responses to loud party calls. All of the money collected through the use of ACP is kept by the city. Violations of the California Penal Code such as CPC 272(a)(I) can result in fines being imposed by a judge. It is hard to determine the exact amount but it is believed to be less then 25% of the criminal fine goes directly to the city to recover its cost of the call. The rest of the fine is divided up between the county and state. The judge on a criminal case may also impose probation and jail time instead of a fine. This results in the city recovering only the booking fee of the arrested person. Under a social host ordinance the responsible party may be held liable for the response cost incurred by law enforcement. This will also help law enforcement to discourage the use and consumption of alcohol by minors. Creating this ordinance will result in a minimal one-time cost associated with drafting and considering the ordinance. If the ordinance is passed, the cost of implementation of the new ordinance will be recovered by the fines imposed. This will allow the city to recover some of the cost associated with the response to parties where underage drinking is problem. A social host ordinance will also make the host of these parties partly liable if damage results from the consumption of alcohol at their party. For example, if a juvenile attends a party where the host knows or should have known that alcohol was being consumed by the minor and that minor's actions result in injury to either property or another person, the person hosting the party could be liable for the minor's actions. A social host ordinance could also be used to help address the problems with commercially operated parties where illegal drug use is present. In the City of Fontana their recently adopted social host ordinance also made the host liable for not taking reasonable steps to prevent illegal drug use at the host's event. The additional language in the law making not only the consumption of alcohol by minors illegal but also the use of illegal drug use at such events as rave parties could be an additional tool used by law enforcement to prevent this illegal activity. The creation of a social host ordinance will be a strong tool for law enforcement and a deterrent for hosts that allow minors to consume alcohol. Further, it can be proactively publicized by the police department through the PIO annually around high school Page 4 graduations, the New Year's holiday and other times of the year when underage drinking is a problem. The goal of such an ordinance is to deter the consumption of alcohol by minors. This ordinance has the added benefit of recovering some of the cost of police and fire services. By decreasing the number of minors consuming alcohol we will be able to successful decrease the number of injuries and deaths resulting from the illegal activity. Not only are the minors affected by their decision to consume alcohol but the innocent victims of car accidents are also affected. As a city and as law enforcement we have a responsibility to protect the citizens we serve. A social host ordinance is one step we can use to help protect both the minors that consume alcohol and the general public at large. Local "Social Host Ordinances" (see attachments B,C,D,F): 1. City of Pomona (PMC Sec. 34-187): a. Declares any gathering of two or more where alcohol is served to minors an unruly gathering. b. Holds organizer of the event and/or owner of the property liable to fines c. First violation $100, 2nd violation in one year a $200 fine, 3'd violation $500. 2. City of Ontario (OMC Sec. 4-22): a. Requires the person hosting the gathering to take "all reasonable steps to prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages by any minor at the gathering. " b. Allows the host to call police to remove individuals refusing to comply with the ordinance. c. Fines for violations within one year are no less than $250 for the first violation, $500 for the second and $1,000 for three or more. 3. San Bernardino County (SBCMC Sec 25.0301) a. Requires the "social host" to take steps to prevent underage drinking and to end any event if underage drinking is found. b. References California Civil Code 1714.1 making the host civilly liable for the willful misconduct of a juvenile that consumed alcohol at his/her gathering that results in civil damages. c. Fines equal to the cost of providing enforcement services and legal fees of litigation. 4. City of Fontana (FMC Sec. 16-19) a. Expands the responsibility of the social host to not only take steps to stop and prevent illegal use of alcohol but also prohibits the use of all illegal substances such as marijuana and any other controlled substance. b. Requires social host to inspect government issued identification to verify the age of people at the gathering to prevent underage drinking. Page 5 c. Fines for the first violation is $750 a second violation within 12 months is fined $1,500. Attachment A Disturbance Calls 6000 5000 5372 5161 4000 .. 3788 u .~ .. VI ~ .2 !!J 3000 Iii 0 '5 ~ .. .0 E ~ z 2002 2000 1663 1642 1467 1860 1000 o 2005 2006 2007 Year 2008 2009 I__Musiccalls -4-ParlyCalls I