SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Alcohol Beverage Control is part of a new task force created by Governor Gavin Newsom to help decrease coronavirus cases throughout the state.


What You Need To Know

  • Since the beginning of July, the Alcohol Beverage Control is making sure restaurants are keeping up with safety guidelines

  • More than 20,000 visits have been made statewide, and approximately 103 citations have been given out

  • Over the course of one night, the task force investigated 100 businesses

  • If a restaurant is not in compliance, it can be fined up to $1,000

Since the beginning of July, agent Luke Blehm and his colleagues at ABC have been making sure restaurants are keeping up with safety guidelines. ​

Each night, Blehm inspects dozens of businesses to see if they are properly implementing California's new COVID-19 health regulations. ​

“No indoor alcohol consumption, all of the servers must be wearing face coverings, and we make sure their customers are socially distanced,” Blehm said.

So far, more than 20,000 visits have been made statewide, and approximately 103 citations have been given out.

“If it comes down to it, we will take enforcement action on violations, but we don’t want to do that right off the bat. We want to initially educate and hopefully people come into compliance and we’re going to be there to answer any questions,” Blehm said.

Over the course of one night, the task force investigated 100 businesses, all of which were found to be compliant with the state's guidelines.

One restaurant owner, Francisco Medina, said agent Blehm's visit was his first ABC inspection.

“It went really well actually...they’re just trying to do the best they can to give us all the guidelines, so we can comply with everything they want,” Medina said.

The task force shows up at random places unexpectedly, as well as to businesses that have already received complaints.

If a restaurant is not in compliance, it can be fined up to $1,000. 

“We do understand that this is a hardship on these businesses and we care about our licensees and we want them to be successful, but we also want them to be safe,” Blehm said.

If agent Blehm does see a violation, he gives the business a warning, along with a follow-up visit to make sure safety guidelines are fully in place.

“That way we can stop the spread of this and we can all get back to a normal way of life in a quicker manner,” Blehm said.

Agent Blehm hopes that with each of these patrols, he’s able to do his part to reduce the spread of the virus throughout California.