If a minor gets caught drinking in Lake Forest, Detective Ben Grum said police have four different options.
One option is an informal meeting between police, parents and the minor. Known as a station adjustment, the meeting is meant to hammer out an agreement on actions for the minor such as taking an alcohol awareness class or performing community service, Grum said.
The second and most common option — chosen about 90 percent of the time — is an administrative hearing, Grum said. The underage drinker shows up at Lake Forest City Hall on the second Wednesday of the month and a hearing officer determines liability. The arresting officer does not have to present and the minor or parents can present witnesses or evidence, Grum said.
The other two options laid out by Grum during the May 17 meeting on underage drinking include sending the minor to Park City Branch Court or, depending on other charges, to juvenile court.
Thirteen residents attended the event at the Gorton Community Center.
From May 2015 through May 17, 2016, there have been 147 administrative hearings for minors caught buying or consuming alcohol, said Commander Craig Lepkowski, who added that the number of arrests have remained fairly consistent in recent years.
Andy Duran, executive director of the Lake Forest-based Leading Efforts Against Drugs (LEAD), recommended that parents talk to their children early and often about using alcohol, set expectations and examine their own behavior when it comes to alcohol.
“That’s a harder one,” Duran said.
For example, not having alcohol at youth functions like a children’s birthday party or while trick-or-treating on Halloween are options to consider, Duran said. He also cautioned parents to watch what language is used when drinking.
“It’s one thing to come home and have a drink with dinner,” Duran said. “Instead of sitting down and saying ‘I need this drink.”
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Grum, who is also school resource officer at Lake Forest High School, said local teens are not buying alcohol in Lake Forest. They are buying it largely in Highwood, unincorporated Lake Bluff and North Chicago or getting it from the homes of their parents or friends’ parents, he said.
He added that he thinks fake IDs are fairly common for teens, even though it’s a felony to own one.
“Fake IDs are cheap, plentiful and ordered out of country,” Grum said.
More information about LEADS resources can be found at leadingefforts.org.
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