On Feb. 3, the Stockton City Council unanimously approved a grant from the California Department of Justice to fund operations preventing the sale of tobacco to minors.
The grant awards $976,853 to be used for police operations that minimize or prevent the sale of tobacco to minors, as well as enforcing the ban on flavored cigarettes. This grant is entirely state funded, requiring no matching funding from the city.
Captain Jonathan Swain of the Stockton police department stated that efforts will be focused at retailers near schools first, targeting the growing problem of vaping in schools, before expanding to other retailers in common areas. Educational activities for retailers and officers are funded under this grant, however the funds cannot be used for school patrols, media campaigns or to “enforce actions related to tobacco use and possession,” according to the grant. Over the next three years, the Stockton police will be obligated to conduct 12 Minor Decoy operations, Shoulder Tap operations, and Undercover Buys, testing 175 retailers.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi asked Swain, “My concern is, do we have enough resources to do it… We’re down some officers, how are we gonna dedicate people to doing this?” Swain said, “we’re trying to use tools and resources like this to provide overtime… We are confident that we are able to meet the needs of the grant over the three year period.”
The minor decoy and shoulder tap operations are conducted through the Stockton police department, with the decoys selected through either the SPD cadet program, or the family of department members.
These operations consist of the minor either walking into the store and asking to buy, or through approaching adults outside the store to ask them to buy. Businesses properly refusing the sale to minors will be issued a letter stating they have passed a decoy test, and businesses selling to the decoy will be given a citation and will have an inspection conducted.
