As Mill Avenue begins to bustle on a Friday night, the security guards of local bars and clubs gear up to check the identification of night-life lovers. Yet these bouncers face a challenge in identifying whether the IDs being presented are fake or not.
On Feb. 1, Tempe Police announced that they had seized 1,556 IDs in 2015, a 19 percent decrease from the previous year. This is the largest drop in ID seizures in the past 5 years.
“The nearly 2,000 IDs seized in 2014 are illustrative of the commitment and dedication by the management of Tempe businesses to follow the law, and prevent the serious consequences that can result from underage drinking," Tempe Police spokesperson Molly Enright wrote in an email.
However, Arizona legislatures and city officials are still on a mission to crack down on the issue.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety issued $60,000 in grant funding to the Tempe Police Traffic Bureau Officers to aid in the seizing of potentially misused or fraudulent IDs, according to a news release.
The news release said this funding will go toward enforcement, education and funding an existing Covert Underage Buyer (CUB) Program, through which police can send an underage person to buy alcohol and bust the sellers if the undercover person is successful.
“A distinction important to note: all seized IDs are not ‘fake’ — in fact, forged IDs are in a minority," Enright wrote. "The majority of fraudulently used and seized IDs are authentic, but may have been stolen — in a majority of fraudulent use cases the IDs have been borrowed from a 21 or older friend or sibling."
People often look to their older friends for a legitimate ID to present as their own, Enright said, even though it is possible to purchase them online.
Ryan Thomas, a security worker for Mill Cue Club in downtown Tempe, said the majority of underage people trying to get into the club present someone else’s legitimate ID, and many are often expired.
When Thomas suspects an ID is not legitimate, he said the bar’s procedure is to have Tempe Police validate whether the ID is usable.
“We tell them: ‘We’re going to check with the police really quickly,’ and if we’re wrong, we buy them a drink,” Thomas said.
Enright wrote that staff serving alcohol will call police after speaking with the individual if they suspect the ID is fake.
"Likewise, a Tempe Police Officer, during the course of operations, may identify an individual in possession of a fraudulently used ID," Enright wrote.
She said officers investigate and if they determine the ID to be either "counterfeit, altered, or in fraudulent use," they act accordingly whether it be seizing the ID or impounding it for evidence.
The bar seizes at least one fake ID per night and averages four to five IDs per night on the weekend, Thomas said.
Michael Dicks, who works door security at Wasted Grain in Old Town Scottsdale, said he has also seen an increase in people trying to pose as someone pictured in a legitimate ID. He said people often try to change their physical appearance to look more like the person in the ID.
"I pay attention to what kind of shoes they are wearing to see if they're trying to sneak up their height," Dicks said.
Dicks said there are key physical features such as eye color, weight and ears that show that someone is using an ID that is not their own.
When Dicks encounters a forged ID, he seizes the ID and then keeps it to train employees. Employees then know what to look for on the various states that indicate that an ID is fake.
He bent the ID and explained that the laminate on the top bubbles up, it's almost certainly a fake.
Dicks also demonstrated how shining a flashlight behind a Connecticut driver license reveals an image of a tree that is imposed in the ID, an important security feature a fake is often missing.
In the stack of IDs Dicks seized there were licensees with missing holograms, incorrect colors, the wrong size text and improper issue or expiration dates.
Despite these security features, Dicks says that sellers are getting better and better at creating passable fake IDs.
Dicks revealed a fake Colorado ID he seized saying that the only thing that indicated the ID was fake was the size of the photo was slightly off, a feature that less experienced security workers might miss.
"I bet someone could drink all day with this ID," Dicks said.
Kinesiology sophomore Rachel Carey said she thinks fake IDs are still prevalent on college campuses.
"I feel like people don't think its a big deal," Carey said.
Carey said most of the people she knows get a valid ID from a 21 or older friend rather than a forged one.
"With the college scene, drinking's prevalent," Carey said. "It's part of the college experience. That's how (people) have fun."
Related Links:
Tempe reports decrease in MICs
Reach the reporter at lmarsha6@asu.edu or follow @lmarsh2014 on Twitter.
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