(JULY 2014)—Preventing the sale of alcohol to customers believed to be intoxicated is not only an integral part of the LCBO’s social responsibility mandate and a year-round responsibility, but it’s also a point of pride for our employees. And although it’s not pleasant to deal with would-be customers who have been told they can’t purchase more alcohol, the alternative can be disastrous if they get behind the wheel of a car.
Of the 11.4 million customers challenged by retail staff in the 2013-14 fiscal year, 42,724 were refused service for reasons of intoxication. But our employees’ commitment to community safety often extends past the checkout. Last year, 426 reports were made to local police across the province by alert retail employees who saw these refused customers attempting to drive away from LCBO property. Armed with vehicle descriptions and licence plate numbers provided by LCBO employees, police track down these potential menaces and last year arrested 97 of them for impaired driving. That’s a lot of potential drunk-driving incidents prevented due to our employees’ extra vigilance and concern for public safety.
The LCBO store in St. Thomas has one of the best records in the network for reporting intoxicated drivers. “If one of us thinks a customer shouldn’t be driving, we check with another employee and if both of us agree, we make the call to police. We probably average about a call a month,” says assistant manager Janet Traichevich. “We always ask a customer who’s been refused service if they drove to the store. If the answer is yes, we offer to call them a cab or someone else who can pick them up. If they refuse, we tell them that we’re calling the police. We even had one customer who challenged us and said, ‘Go ahead, call the police’, and then refused to leave the store. The police came right away and took his keys!”
Janet adds, “If another customer sees us challenging a potential drunk driver and calling the police, they always say ‘Thanks!’, or ‘Good work!’. It’s a great feeling.”
Police are eager to get impaired drivers off the streets and are appreciative of the assistance from LCBO employees. “When our service receives a call from our local LCBO about a suspected impaired driver, we know to respond immediately as the situation is very dynamic, time sensitive, and the potential for harm is great,” said Chief Darryl Pinnell of the St. Thomas Police Service. “Reducing impaired drivers on our roads is a shared responsibility with our community, and thankfully our LCBO staff takes this responsibility very seriously. We trust the LCBO staff’s judgement and have developed a strong rapport with them. They’ve been a great help in maintaining community safety and we can’t thank them enough for doing so.”
Sue named Milton Citizen of the Year
Congratulations to Sue Bodin, an employee at the LCBO store on Main Street East in Milton, , who was recognized as the 2014 Citizen of the Year in Milton by Halton Regional Police and MADD Canada. Sue was recognized for the quick phone call she made to police that led to the apprehension of an impaired driver. The inscription on the award says it all: Thank you for keeping our roads safe.
“I can’t think of a better award for one of our employees to receive,” says John Wilkinson, manager, District 1 (Dufferin/Peel).
