Budget cuts mean the North Bend community will have to step up this year in King County Sheriff’s Office efforts to catch underage drinkers during the graduation and party season.

With the sheriff’s office absorbing a $9.5 million cut in 2011, the annual Party Patrol program is not being fully funded.

“Finances and the recession impact us as well,” said North Bend Chief of Police Mark Toner.

Cutbacks mean fewer resources for combatting illegal drinking parties, which are a bigger problem in rural parts of the county.

Toner said parties in rural areas are larger, grow faster and are held in wooded areas that are hard for deputies and other emergency responders to reach.

In cities, teen parties can only involve as many youths that can fit in a house, he said,

“In a rural area, they can fit 200 people in an open area,” Toner said. “We’re dealing with bigger numbers.”

Toner wants parents and residents to step up in preventing and reporting such parties.

Ask questions

“I’m asking the community to keep their eyes out, parent their own children,” he said. “If your kids are going to another friend’s house for a party, talk to the parents. Make sure they know what’s going on at their own homes. Make sure there’s no drinking and that the party will be supervised.”

“If there’s a big party going on, talk to the homeowners,” Toner added. “If they’re not responsive, talk to the cops — we’ll talk to them. Know what your kids are doing.”

Toner said that some parents let children and their teen friends drink at their homes. Allowing it is a huge liability, he added.

As an employee of the county’s Major Crimes unit a few years ago, Toner dealt with a death of a 12 year-old child who attended a party where parents had provided alcohol to youth. The parents were charged for the child’s death.

“It’s beyond comprehension why folks do that,” Toner said. “It may seem like we blow it out of proportion sometimes — everybody drinks. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with the huge amounts of financial burden on the property damage and innocent victims.”

Drunk driving, meanwhile, can impact anyone.

“It’s going to take out the innocent guy,” he said.

Liquor stings

In March, Snoqualmie Valley police agencies notified businesses in North Bend, Snoqualmie, Preston and Fall City that they would be conducting undercover liquor sales checks. Such stings are ongoing in the Valley.

At that time, Toner didn’t know whether the Party Patrol would happen this year.

“That’s why we started to focus emphasis on underage sales,” he said.

With a reduced patrol presence, clamping down on underage sales may be a different way to decrease underage drinking.

During the checks, a minor, working with an officer and officials from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, will attempt to make a liquor or tobacco purchase. Sales to a minor made in the stings will result in a ticket for the sales clerk, up to $1,500 in fines on the business, and the potential loss of the business’s liquor license.

“Almost all of the merchants are saying, ‘Great, bring it, we want to obey. We don’t want kids in here, either,'” Toner said.