The Bismarck alcohol-enforcement team made 24 arrests Saturday night by watching liquor stores, stopping at motels and visiting loud parties.

The police department conducts special enforcement efforts several times a year to curb underage drinking. Patrol efforts are usually bolstered during major events that might attract underage drinking, including prom, homecoming and graduations.

The organizer, Bismarck school resource officer Perry Lauer, said they chose Saturday because the team hadn't been out in a while, and there was a rodeo at the Civic Center.

Eight officers - four undercover and four uniformed - were added to the night shift. The plainclothes officers waited in unmarked cars outside busy liquor stores and watched for illegal or suspicious activity. Marked patrol cars were parked nearby to make traffic stops.

Liquor stores under surveillance were Captain Jack's north and south, Cash Wise Liquors, Stamart, Plaza Beer Depot and Polar Package Place. All liquor stores in Bismarck have been watched as part of the alcohol enforcement effort.

The all-night effort switched gears when the liquor stores closed. The extra officers assisted the regular night crew on patrol, answered loud party calls and visited motels.

There were 18 people between the ages of 16 and 20 cited Saturday with being minors in possession of alcohol, and six adults, 21 to 26 years old, were cited for delivering the alcohol. Officers also served outstanding warrants and handed out citations for drag racing, failure to properly restrain a child, giving false information to law enforcement, driving without a license and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.

Another six minors were arrested for possessing alcohol on Friday and Sunday, increasing the weekend's alcohol-related arrests to 30, Bismarck Police Lt. Dan Donlin said.

This was the third enforcement effort funded by a $9,500 grant from the office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The police department applies for the federal grant each year in June. It has until the end of May to spend the money. The team usually goes on patrol about six times a year. Some funding comes from the police department.

"We'll be doing a few more between now and when the grant runs out in May," Lauer said.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)