Sturgis police athletic leagues' (sturgis PAL) coalition's priority is underage drinking by youth ages 12-18 and illegal use of marijuana in meade county SD. - on june 5TH, 2019 the city of sturgis…

Sturgis police athletic leagues' (sturgis PAL) coalition's priority is underage drinking by youth ages 12-18 and illegal use of marijuana in meade county SD. - on june 5TH, 2019 the city of sturgis surprised the community when IT made an announcement that IT would allow alcohol at a community youth wrestling event in the city?s main street square. This announcement came from the local newspaper and quickly took to social media with parent and community members outraged. The sturgis police chief was public in his voice against the event however city council members passed the open container event with a vote of 6-2. Meade county, south dakota (3,483 SQ. Miles) is the third largest county in land size in the united states and has a combination of low population density, high agribusiness employment, and low paying employment opportunities. There are significant, persistent challenges in the identified community. Sturgis is home to the famous sturgis motorcycle rally. This annual gathering of roughly 500,000 bikers, brings a unique set of challenges. High on this list is underage drinking. While the sturgis motorcycle rally officially runs only ten days each year, IT brings many negative effects to the community, such as an increase in substance availability and drug use; exposure to public intoxication; exposure to nudity and other behaviors that negatively affect youth. Many of these effects stay long after the rally has ended. There were 329 arrests for juveniles in 2019 which is up from the previous year of 255. Alcohol is involved in nearly half of all reported crimes in SD. According to the most recent data published by the FBI, over 1 in 10 juvenile arrests are related to drugs. South dakota leads the nation in juvenile drug arrests at 45.75 per 10,000 people. The neighboring states were in the low to mid-20?s. Much of the crime in the identified area of need is related to alcohol or illegal substance use. In 2018 meade county sheriff?s office received 6,049 calls for service and the sturgis police department received 9,810 calls, which resulted in 2,486 arrests. In the summer of 200 9, a woman was arrested for a .708 BAC in sturgis limits. The information made national news and now sturgis holds the record for the highest BAC arrest. With the help of the DFC funding sturgis PAL hopes to empower the community to change social norms by removing the stigma of the sturgis motorcycle rally and its residual effects and the impact IT has on the youth?s perception of harm in regards to the use of alcohol and marijuana. The goals of the coalition are: (1) to strengthen the capacity of the sturgis PAL coalition and its members; and (2) to reduce substance use and abuse among youth by addressing community risk and protective factors through the following strategies. The coalition will achieve its goals by implementing these strategies:strengthen internal capacity by enhancing skills, leadership and knowledge in best practices of coalition building.modify/change policies to strengthen coalition?s internal capacity to accomplish goals, objectives and activities.increase funding sources and staff expertise in grant writing and substance abuse prevention.educate the community on the retail access to alcohol by minors.increase youth's knowledge and skills to make healthier decisions related to substance use and abuse.increase the youth?s motivation and skills to set and monitor multiple health behavior goals by providing brief integrated interventions to young people and families in the community.reduce access and enhance barriers to the social access of alcohol to minors.enforce laws contributing to the illegal use of marijuana and driving under the influence of marijuana.