Arizona liquor director vows no undercover 'stings' at bars, clubs

PHOENIX — The new state liquor chief vowed Monday that there will be no “sting” operations at bars and restaurants as occurred during the pandemic when Doug Ducey was governor.

Ben Henry, tapped for the job by Gov. Katie Hobbs, also said there definitely won’t be undercover operations at adult businesses like the one that led to an investigator being charged with getting “handsy’’ with an erotic dancer and a former head of the Department of Liquor Licenses and Control being ousted.

Those promises to the Senate Committee on Director Nominations, along with some more general comments about his philosophy of regulation, were enough to get Henry the panel’s unanimous approval. His name now goes to the full Senate, where confirmation is anticipated.

Much of Monday’s hearing focused on Henry’s background, from delivering beer for Hensley Beverages to becoming a commander in the Phoenix Police Department, the chief deputy under Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, and, most recently, working with the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training Board.

There also were discussions about staffing and budget for the 80-year-old liquor department.

But Republicans on the five-member committee were particularly interested in exactly how intrusive Henry, who has been on the job since Jan. 17, intends to be when dealing with those who have liquor licenses.

Sen. Sine Kerr, R-Buckeye, specifically mentioned what happened during COVID.

Ducey, after first balking, shut down all bars in June 2020 after a spike in cases of the virus. Many bars were allowed to reopen months later, but only after signing a form agreeing to certain safety requirements such as social distancing.

But several establishments, particularly in Scottsdale, found themselves shuttered again after state liquor inspectors said they were not complying with those commitments.

“Is this the role you see for the department, conducting these operations and penalizing those who commit violations?’’ Kerr asked.

“No, ma’am, it is not,’’ Henry responded. “We have to stay in our lane.’’

No ‘sting’ operations at clubs

He also said that sending in liquor inspectors on an undercover basis to find violations can put them in harm’s way.

“It’s dangerous when you go outside of your lanes and you have people doing jobs that they don’t know what they’re doing,’’ Henry said. “So I won’t put people in harm’s way. It just won’t happen.’’

That led to a discussion of a bungled undercover operation in late 2020 at Scottsdale’s Skin Cabaret.

A dancer claimed that Mike Sanchez, a detective for the liquor department, tried to touch her genitals during what was supposed to be an undercover investigation of violations of COVID-19 protocols and liquor law. A report by an outside police agency said the detective and the dancer were alone in a VIP room at the time.

Sanchez resigned ahead of being fired. He denied wrongdoing and was not prosecuted.

The incident also claimed the jobs of department director John Cocoa and his deputy, Mike Rosenberger, for their handling of it.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“What are you doing with the department to ensure a situation like this doesn’t occur in the future and that the department focuses on its core functions?’’ Kerr asked Henry.

Henry said he was “intimately familiar’’ with the case, having worked on the investigation along with the Department of Public Safety while he was at AzPOST.

“It was extremely troubling,’’ he told lawmakers.

He said that was one of the first discussions he had with staff when he took over the department.

“We will not be in any of those type of clubs doing those sting operations,’’ Henry said. It’s not just because he does not believe it is the role of the liquor department, he said.

“We have 17 agents for the entire state,’’ he said. “That’s the same amount of agents you probably had 25-plus years ago.’’

That means inspectors will primarily be engaged in educating holders of liquor licenses on how to comply with laws, including not serving minors and ensuring patrons are not “overserved.’’ Enforcement actions will be taken when necessary, he said.

“Hopefully, there’s never going to be another pandemic,’’ Henry said. “But we will stay away from those type of operations.’’

He said if his investigators come across information alleging bars are engaging in sex trafficking or the sale of fentanyl, that can be passed along to other law enforcement agencies.

Staffing concerns

On the question of staffing, Henry said it becomes particularly acute during special events, ranging from Taylor Swift concerts to the Super Bowl. That means taking four agents and a supervisor out of Tucson, two agents out of Northern Arizona and one from Yuma.

“They have to come down because it’s an ‘all hands on deck,’ ‘’ he said.

“That means nobody’s in Tucson, nobody’s in Flagstaff, nobody’s in Yuma,’’ Henry continued. “And so those are always concerns for me.’’

It’s not like this is taking money from the state budget. Henry pointed out the department is supported entirely by its fees, even to the point of putting “millions of dollars’’ into the state general fund after paying for its expenses.

Yet he said his investigators lack some things common at other police agencies, such as mobile data computers that allow officers to run someone’s license plate or input other information. Instead, staffers have to contact DPS, which may not always be easy when cell service is unreliable.

That, he said, can be dangerous.

“It’s sometimes hard knowing who you’re dealing with,’’ Henry said. “We need more manpower, and we need more equipment to do the job effectively.’’