St. Paul’s initiative to cut down on underage drinking, “Zero Adult Providers” (ZAP) has lost its Minnesota for Public Health (MIPH) grant. The St. Paul Police Department will cover the deficit to allow the program to continue.

Since its inception in 2000, the Minnesota Join Together Coalition received grants from MIPH and allocated some of the money to the St. Paul Police Department to fund overtime pay for officers on ZAP detail. MIPH has a U.S. Department of Education grant to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol related injuries.

This year the MIPH received 400 grant proposals and was able to fund only 13.

“Funding in general has tightened, from the federal government on down…grant options have slowed, and have since become more competitive,” Officer Paul Schnell said. The ZAP program was one program that lost funding.

The St. Paul Police Department has chosen to use its own resources to fund the ZAP program. “The St. Paul police are committed to being responsive to the complaints and concerns of residents,” Schnell said.

Anderson claims that ZAP is effective because it does more than “slap a band-aid on an immediate problem.” Instead of just breaking up parties, officers on ZAP detail will go to the site of a complaint, ID everyone there, and take the necessary enforcement actions—often including minor citations and arresting adult providers.

ZAP was implemented in the fall of 2000, along with two new bills intended to limit adult provision of alcohol to youth. The “ZAP Bill” expanded civil liability of adult providers such that those injured by an inebriated minor were allowed to sue the adult provider. The “Brockway Bill” made it a felony to be the provider of alcohol to a minor who dies as a result of intoxication.

Dean of Students Laurie Hamre remembers when the program was implemented in the fall of 2000, students commented that they were planning on limiting parties. Schnell states that community member response to the program has generally been positive, as some residents have found it to be an effective cure for noisy parties.

However, not everyone has stellar reviews for ZAP. In 2001 Amy Margolies ’04 was caught by a ZAP patrol at a party. The ZAP officers ticketed and performed breathalyzers on all of the underage drinkers at the party. Margolies later appeared in court, was fined $200 and sentenced to 24 hours of community service and one year of probation.

The size of the ZAP patrol varies, with larger patrols on weekend nights and when there are special college events. It can be as large as eight officers and a supervisor. The patrol on Oct. 31, for example, was larger because of Halloween, Anderson said.

Schnell reiterates that the ZAP program has two foci—he comments that “enforcement alone won’t change behavior” thus the attempts at public education, headed by the Minnesota Join Together Coalition. For Schnell, it comes down to “getting the word out that providing alcohol to minors is illegal and a concern for area residents.”

John Hershey, University of St. Thomas neighborhood liaison, comments that previous to implementation of ZAP, he heard from a lot of frustrated residents who felt that police were unresponsive to complaints. Although much of the community seems unaware of ZAP’s presence, he hears many comments that the neighborhood has been a quieter place to live since its inception.

Hershey added that placing the burden with the police, rather than college administrators is another benefit of the ZAP program. He stated that this enables the administration to focus on other issues.