Education Seminar for Retail Liquor Licenses

By Frank G. Pelzman Former Mayor, Woodbridge Township

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A proven axiom of law enforcement is that increased education leads to increased compliance. People cooperate more fully—and more willingly—if they understand what is expected of them.

ABC education seminars have been shown to reap significant benefits in reducing alcohol-related accidents and fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a training program for liquor servers has the potential to lower nighttime DUI crashes by 17 percent.

With that objective in mind, on May 11 Woodbridge Township held its first ABC education seminar for businesses holding retail liquor licenses in the township. New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Jose Rodriguez was our keynote speaker, and Municipal Clerk John Mitch, Police Chief William Trenery and I gave welcoming remarks to the 79 licensee representatives in attendance who received up-to-date information about ABC regulations and their application in our township.

Mandated by a recent Woodbridge Township Council ordinance, the seminar is now an annual requirement for each retail license holder wishing to renew their license for the coming year. Our belief is that by increasing the licensee’s awareness of basic quality-of-life issues, they will remain good businesses and good neighbors.

Points covered in the seminar included:  preventing illegal alcohol service to minors, recognizing fake ID’s, reducing the likelihood of drinkers becoming intoxicated and preventing those who are intoxicated from harming themselves or others.

A companion ordinance passed by Council requires an increase in security personnel at township liquor establishments that charge a patron admission fee, or where live entertainment is presented to an audience of more than 100 patrons at any given time.

Mayor Frank G. Pelzman addresses the township's recent education seminar for
retail liquor licensees. "We want to help these businesses remain good
neighbors and good businesses for the community," said Mayor Pelzman.

A venue will need to have one uniformed security person at each entry door and one uniformed security person for each 50 patrons. Most importantly, security people cannot be bartenders or servers, nor can they perform any duties other than security.

These are proactive measures designed to address a serious public health and safety issue that potentially affects everyone in the community. We believe these seminars will help our local liquor retailers better understand their responsibilities and avoid problems with ABC violations before they occur.

Article published in October 2006, New Jersey Municipalities