Underage drinking came under fire at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria on Dec. 6, when the New Paltz Police Department and the New York State Liquor Authority participated in a joint investigation that ended up busting 20 young drinkers. Police arrested the 20 people, charging the lot of them with possession of an alcoholic beverage under the age of 21. Five of those people were also charged with third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument for using fake IDs. Four more were charged with second-degree criminal impersonation for using IDs that weren’t theirs.
On top of all that, one of Grimaldi’s bartenders was charged with multiple counts of second-degree unlawfully dealing with a child.
Police and the Liquor Authority were also considering whether they had enough evidence to pursue charges relating to employees working off the books and contaminated liquor.
Under New York State liquor law, a bar can serve “contaminated” booze in a few ways, including fruit flies being present in the alcohol or by watering down or cutting a bottle of hooch with something else.
New Paltz Police Commission Chairman Justin Finnegan wondered how the underage drinkers were getting away with it. “Are they using fake IDs and are they being charged?” he said.
Chief Joseph Snyder told the Police Commission that most of the people in the bar had not had any ID at all. The rest used high-quality fakes or borrowed the ID of an older look alike.
“Some of the IDs that these people use are very good,” the chief explained. “You have to have employees to check those things.”
According to Chief Snyder, bar owners in New Paltz have been pretty quick to fire doormen or bartenders who’ve been found not to be doing the right things.
For the current Police Commission, underage drinking is a focus. Commissioner Randall Leverette asked the chief to focus more effort on cracking down on illegal drinking.
“The more we push at it, the more compliant these bars will be,” Leverette said.
The chairman agreed. “It’s a college town, but it doesn’t mean you can take advantage.”
Commissioner Leverette added: “It’s something that needs to be looked at.”
But for some people on the Police Commission asking for additional work to be done in the face of budget cuts doesn’t make sense.
“We want more done about it, but we’re taking money away from the Police Department?” said Commissioner Matt Aube, a former officer with the NPPD.
Aube, who now works as a policeman in Poughkeepsie, acknowledged that New Paltz probably will always struggle to control underage drinkers.
“It’s going to continue to be a part of this village, this town as long as this is a college community,” he said. As a policeman, Aube said that the effectiveness of underage drinking busts can be hampered by bar owners who get tipped off about impending stings. Much like a filthy restaurant that hears a rumor about the health inspector, bars serving underage drinkers keep their ears open for tale of a police raid.
Budget cuts will hamper Police Department, chief says
In the wake of the failed town budget process, police in New Paltz now face a final budget that cuts $56,000 from their budget — exactly the cost of salary and benefits for one beat cop. Chief Snyder was pretty sure that that is the limit of what happened when the town’s preliminary budget became final by default.
“We’d have to really weigh out and see how it would affect us,” he added.
Police Commission members had been working on a much larger cut to the department budget until the Town Board missed its November deadline to complete the budget. Under that scenario, the town has to adopt their second-draft budget as final.
“That’s less than what we came up with,” Commissioner Randall Leverette said about the $51,000. Before New Paltz Town Board members failed to pass the budget on time, the discussion around the board table was leaning toward further cuts. Supervisor Toni Hokanson, however, remained adamant that no cuts whatsoever happen to the NPPD.
One idea was to eliminate the county-funded Selective Traffic Enforcement Program entirely. According to Commissioner Ira Margolis, who advocates the idea, cutting the program’s $20,000 in revenue would have a side-effect of also cutting an extra $10,000 in administrative cost.
According to Chief Snyder, no further alterations to STEP or the police budget in general will happen till January, when the new Town Board takes over.
“At this point, I’d rather not change anything,” the chief said, adding that police officials need direction on what the new iteration of the board would like done.
Cuts were not the only solution presented for New Paltz’s budget woes. Police Commission members also had some ideas to help the town generate revenues.
Right now, the Town of New Paltz surrenders a lot of fines and fees related to traffic tickets to the state because their road law defers power to the state. In that case, that money goes back to the state. If a local law were passed, that money would stay in New Paltz.
Commissioner Aube said he could understand how the Town Board could complain about the expense of the New Paltz Police Department while at the same time leaving easy money on the table.
“All they have to do is draft laws and pass them,” he said.
Commissioner Leverette agreed. “It’s money that we’re giving away now that we can recapture.”
Another idea for recapturing revenue lost to others right now is for the Police Department to create an impound lot for vehicles towed in New Paltz. Right now, those cars go to privately owned lots — as do those impound fees.
Police Commission members plan to draft a recommendation to the Town Board listing the ways they could create new revenue streams. That wouldn’t happen until January when the new board takes over. ++
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