The Statesboro Police Department announced Wednesday that it will conduct compliance checks of businesses licensed to sell alcohol this month.

Before Dec. 25, the Police Department will conduct two covert operations covering retail and on-premises consumption license holders. The operations will check for compliance with state laws and local ordinances related to underage alcohol sales, the department said in a news release.

The release adds that the department notified licensees before making the public announcement "in a continued effort to work with the community stakeholders on alcohol enforcement."

Statesboro police have stepped up alcohol compliance checks since the Aug. 28 death of Michael Gatto, an 18-year-old Georgia Southern University freshman, at Rude Rudy's in University Plaza. A fellow Georgia Southern student, Grant James Spencer, 20, who was employed as a bouncer at Rude Rudy's but was reportedly off-duty at the time of the incident, has been charged with felony murder and aggravated battery in connection with Gatto's death, and the bar has since been closed.

The Police Department conducted its last round of alcohol compliance checks on Oct. 11, during Georgia Southern's homecoming weekend. In those cases, an undercover, underage informant working with the department successfully bought alcohol at several businesses.

Those compliance checks led to the three-day suspension of alcohol licenses at Food World on Fair Road and Time Saver at 301 N. Main St. because those were the second violations of the city's alcohol ordinance logged within a 12-month period. Ten others received warnings because they each had only one recorded violation. These decisions were handed down at a City Council meeting last month.

Police also conducted compliance checks on Sept. 4 and 11, in the wake of Gatto's death, and six businesses received warnings during a City Council meeting in October.