Statesboro steps up effort to police underage drinking

Officials say compliance checks help gauge extent of the problem

Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner, left, discusses the Police Department's recent stepped-up enforcement of laws against underage drinking after Michael Gatto, 18, was beaten by a bouncer at Rude Rudy's on Aug. 28 and died a few hours later. Statesboro police Detective Lt. Rob Bryan, right, also provided insight during a meeting with the Statesboro Herald in the newspaper's conference room Friday, Sept. 19. - photo by AL HACKLE/Staff

Compliance Checks Interview — Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner, left, discusses the Police Department's recent stepped-up enforcement of laws against underage drinking after Michael Gatto, 18, was beaten by a bouncer at Rude Rudy's on Aug. 28 and died a few hours later. Statesboro police Detective Lt. Rob Bryan, right, also provided insight during a meeting with the Statesboro Herald in the newspaper's conference room Friday, Sept. 19. - photo by AL HACKLE/Staff

Statesboro police and City Hall officials acknowledge that officers have done more compliance checks targeting sales of alcohol to people under age 21 since the Aug. 28 death of Michael Gatto, 18, after a violent encounter at the now closed Rude Rudy's bar. The added compliance checks, said Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner, are an effort to measure the extent of the community's problem with underage drinking. "Is there a legitimate underage drinking problem?

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