SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has abruptly ended a security contract with off-duty police officers for liquor stores, citing budget cuts.
The decision to cut the security contracts was announced in a letter sent to liquor store managers and obtained by FOX 13. The letter reads:
The letter was sent the same day the DABC was scolded by Senate Minority Whip Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, over the agency’s treatment of employees.
DABC director Sal Petilos told FOX 13 on Tuesday that his agency faced a $500,000 budget cut from the legislature this year. In a statement on Wednesday, the agency reiterated that.
“For the 2015-16 fiscal budget year, DABC’s appropriation was reduced from the previous year. As a result, the department is adjusting its operations to accommodate the reduced funding. A service area that will be affected is the individual contracted security officers in each store. That being said, DABC will be providing uninterrupted security through one security provider beginning July 1, 2015. We appreciate the service that has been provided by existing security staff and we consider it unfortunate that we have to move in another direction for security services.”
