Arlington Heights Police Seek Changes to Liquor Code

If Arlington Heights police have their way, anyone selling alcohol in the village would be required to get BASSET certification.

It is one of the changes police are asking the village board make to the liquor code in an effort to curb underage alcohol sales.

BASSET stands for Beverage Alcohol Sellers and Servers Education and Training, a program that trains servers how to serve responsibility, according to BASSET’s website. 

The current liquor code requires only managers to get the training.

Village code does not require a manager to be on site, or overseeing the sale of alcohol, Richard Niedrich, Arlington Heights police caption said.

“We consider that to be a shortcoming in the code,” Niedrich said.

Police are also concerned about the length of time new employees have to take BASSET training. Under the code, new employees have 90 days to obtain training. The problem, explained by Niedrich, is that some businesses have a high turnover rate and employees never get the training.

Last month, the liquor commission fined six establishments for selling alcohol to minors during a compliance check last summer, he said. Three of those cases involved sales of packaged liquor by employees who had no BASSET training.

Arlington Heights police are recommending four changes to the liquor code:

• Online BASSET program would be expressly prohibited. All training programs must be done through an in-person class.
• Anyone selling or serving must be BASSET certified.
• New employees of the licensee who will sell or serve alcoholic beverage will be required to complete BASSETT training within 30 days of the beginning of their employment.
• Changes are also proposed for daily permit holders, including special events. This would require volunteers selling tickets for alcohol, selling wristbands or serving alcohol at festivals receive BASSET training.

Where liquor is served, one BASSET trained volunteer must supervise every five servers.

In the past, festival volunteers did receive some BASSET training, but the village somehow drifted away from the training over the years, Niedrich explained.

Trustee Thomas Hayes thought there were some good provisions in the changes, but wanted to defer any formal vote Monday to hear feedback from license holders about the potential impact.

The board, individually, weighed in on the changes.

“I think some changes are necessary, but we need to step back and look at the impact overall. It’s a lot of changes at once,” Scaletta said.

Scaletta would not want to go so far as prohibiting online BASSET training, but would like to see the village strongly suggest people go to the in-class training.

“It’s hard to say the online (training) is not effective, but there is no way of knowing the person did all of the answers of the questions or had some coaching if done on line,” Mayor Arlene Mulder said.

Trustee Carol Blackwood said she would like to get input from liquor license holders on the first three changes. She had a few questions about adding the BASSET requirement for volunteers at festivals.

“We really need to consider the group effect as volunteers come in and whether we can have group training or a temporary certificate for people who volunteer,” she said.

A one-day certificate may be available and the police department could arrange for training at village hall for volunteers, Niedrich said.

Trustee Michael Sidor said he thinks the board should move quickly on the issue before festival season begins. The request was tabled until a later date.

Niedrich seemed open to the different ideas trustees raised.

“Anything would be better than what we are doing now,” Niedrich said. “Our people in the field are seeing a real gap in responsible service and selling of packaged liquor.”