Alcohol Enforcement Team

Our Alcohol Enforcement Team (AET) is a specialized group of law enforcement officers dedicated to enforcing underage drinking laws. The AET incorporates specialized training and strategies to focus on reducing access and use of alcohol by underage persons. The strategies include any or all of the following: compliance checks, casual contacts, party patrols and controlled party dispersal, traffic safety checkpoints and enforcement, on-premises or bar checks and shoulder taps. The team may perform a single strategy or multiple strategies during the course of a shift.

The AET serves all areas of Lexington and Richland Counties. Enforcement efforts conducted by the team include:

• Compliance Checks (sending underage youth into retail establishments to attempt to purchase alcohol)
• Party Patrols (monitoring communities for underage alcohol parties)
• Casual Contacts (a community policing effort to create awareness of the risk associated with underage alcohol use)
• Traffic Enforcement (routine traffic patrol and traffic checkpoints looking for underage alcohol use)
• Public Presentations (speaking to youth, parents, businesses and other community members about underage alcohol use).

(803) 726-9423

AET Participating Agencies

The following agencies in Lexington and Richland Counties participate on the Alcohol Enforcement Team:

• Cayce Department of Public Safety
• Lexington County Sheriff's Department
• Lexington Police Department
• Richland County Sheriff's Department
• USC Police Department
• West Columbia Police Department