Setting the bar higher

And you thought you knew how to bar-hop.

Det. Bryan Moore has you beat.

As the Newport Beach Police Department’s Alcohol Beverage Control Department liaison, Moore has the monumental task of hitting every upscale restaurant, trendy twentysomething party spot and dimly lit dive bar in Newport Beach by July if they have a permit to serve alcohol. Add in another 40 off-sale establishments — liquor stores and the like — and Moore will visit nearly 400 spots by June 30.

No, Moore is not sampling drinks. Instead, as the Police Department’s go-to guy for making sure the city’s alcohol establishments are up to code, he visits a few each day and inspects them for various Department of Alcohol Beverage Control violations.

“I figure I’ve got to hit about 10 a week,” Moore said.

Newport Beach has three times the state average for alcohol establishments per capita. In 2005, the city had the highest rate of alcohol-related collisions with injuries in the state per its population, though there was a slight decrease the next year. From 2005 to 2006, DUI arrests in Newport jumped 212, to a total of 597.

When Moore walks into a bar and says he’s with the police, the room goes silent. Bar owners and employees act nervous around him.

Moore does his best to get them to relax. After all, he’s not there to shut them down, he said.

His eyes are constantly moving, scanning the tables, bar tops, bottles and walls. Anything that could be a violation — graffiti on the walls or not having a proper sign or license visible — is noted. What he’s looking for are major violations, he said. Someone visibly intoxicated with a drink in their hand, drug paraphernalia or an underage drinker are all things that can lead to citations or arrests.

“It’s fine, it’s good that they check to see if everything is clean,” said Jolene Haley, bartender at the Beach Ball, as Moore shines a light into a tequila bottle. “He’s got to make sure everything is safe.”