START
(Stop Teen Alcohol Risk Team)
TO REPORT UNDERAGE DRINKING - DIAL 1-866-833-6873

During the late 1990’s a statewide task force was created to address a spike in teenage alcohol traffic fatalities and find solutions. Members of the Vermont State Police, the Department of Liquor Control, municipal police officers, town constables, Fish & Wildlife wardens, and Sheriffs worked with representatives from the Attorney General's Office, Department of State's Attorneys, Department of Education, and youth representatives to study the problem and identify effective enforcement strategies. The result was the Stop Teenage Alcohol Risk Team (START) program, administered by the Vermont Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs and made possible through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention.

The Vermont State Police have been an active participant in START. Each Vermont county has a START team comprised of police officers from the area's law enforcement agencies. The team acts proactively and reactively to combat under-aged drinking by coordinating multi-agency responses to reports of under age drinking events which are going to occur or are occurring.

These community responses have:

• Reduced youth access to alcohol; reduced teen highway fatalities;
• Reduced rural drinking parties; and
• Reduced adult sanctioning of youth alcohol use.

Vermont's law enforcement personnel are connecting with judicial, reparative, and community groups to improve enforcement protocols, change community norms, and improve public policies.

START members are also involved in educational programs designed to alert teens to the dangers of early and excessive alcohol consumption and riding with impaired drivers.