The police made a dramatic point about drunken driving by displaying this wreck in the lot of Coventry High School.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

COVENTRY — With prom season in full swing and high school commencements just around the corner, the Coventry police are giving notice that they are on high alert for underage drinking and are taking extra steps this year.

In advance of tonight’s Coventry High School senior prom, the police gave a presentation a month ago on the perils of drinking and driving. The school’s resource officer made daily announcements about the dangers of drunken driving, fused with popular music, over the school’s public address system. And the police put a wrecked car on display in the school parking lot.

And last week, Sgt. John Shields made the rounds of Coventry’s liquor stores and about 40 restaurants, clubs and bars to distribute the 2008 Driver’s License Guide, a booklet made available by Miller Brewing Co. that contains sample pictures of driver’s licenses for the 50 states and U.S. territories and the Canadian provinces.

The idea is to ensure no one can sneak a shoddy fake past a server or liquor store clerk.

“Alcohol retailers are the first line of defense in stopping the sale of alcohol to young people. We are making sure you are checking IDs and other people are not buying for them,” Col. Ronald DaSilva, police chief, said yesterday. “Kids are graduating. Kids are thinking it’s party time and they think it’s a rite of passage. We want to let them know it’s not.”

And there is a message for parents: You can’t host a party with alcohol for adolescents.

While Coventry, in recent years, has not experienced the tragedies that have struck other Rhode Island communities, DaSilva said the local police “do not take [underage drinking] lightly. We want the kids to act smart and think about their actions.”

The department normally receives copies of the Driver’s License Guide through the Fraternal Order of Police, but this year it requested more copies from Miller Brewing.

The guide was welcome, said Anthony Petrarca, owner of Anthony’s Wine and Spirits, on Tiogue Avenue.

“I’m glad they brought it to my attention,” Petrarca said yesterday. But, he added, “We get more people hoping they can get away without [anyone] asking them, than people presenting fake IDs. More often they’ll say ‘I forgot it.’ I’ve had kids give driver’s licenses that say they’re 18, hoping you really don’t look at it carefully.”

“There is no fear. I wish there was more that we could do as merchants,” he said. “We tell them to leave and nothing happens to them.”

lsparks@projo.com