Media Release

March 26, 2019

Disappointing Result in Far North - Controlled Purchase Operation

Northland DHB and NZ Police staff who this week conducted two Controlled Purchase Operations (CPOs) at licensed premises throughout Northland are disappointed with the result in one of the regions.

During the two operations, volunteers aged 17 years attempted to purchase alcohol from licensed premises throughout the Far North and Whangarei areas. The 15 outlets tested by the enforcement agencies in Whangarei resulted in no sales; however three sales were made at the 15 outlets tested in the Far North.

Alcohol Harm Prevention Officer, Mid / Far North Police Senior Constable Rasau Kalivati, said the results are very disappointing,

“I cannot stress strongly enough that holders of a liquor license should ask for identification if they are in doubt of the age of a customer or where the customer appears under 25 years of age. If identification is produced, the seller must verify the correct age before making a sale. As a community, we need to have confidence that license holders will not sell alcohol to our youth”.

Police are following up with those premises that sold alcohol to the volunteer.

Whangarei Police Alcohol Harm Prevention Officer Sergeant Tai Patrick said the result from the 15 premises tested in the greater Whangarei and Bream Bay areas was very good and all the licensed premises tested had good systems in place and asked for identification on every occasion, which was encouraging.

Controlled Purchase Operations (CPOs) are part of an ongoing programme to assess compliance with the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 in an effort to address access to alcohol by minors.

Operation statistics:

Off Licensed premises: 31 attempts from 31 premises resulted in THREE SALES

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