Tempe bars are turning to cameras to help curb underage drinking and stop the use of fake IDs.
The cameras are used to document and match up pictures on the ID with the user to make sure the person using the ID is the one whose name is printed on it.
Greg Snodgrass, general manager of Sakis Pacific Rim Café and Sushi Bar, said using cameras will be a more effective way of checking IDs than the scanner the bar is currently using.
“High-profile bars are going to have to start getting the cameras because driver’s licenses from some states don’t have a strip or a bar code that the scanner can read,” he said.
Snodgrass explained that, in addition to weeding out fake IDs, the cameras will help bars like Sakis document their carding process.
“We have had problems with people telling the cops that we never carded them, and then we get in trouble,” he said. “With the cameras, we’re going to have proof that everyone inside was carded.”
Although the camera system is pricey, running at about $2,500 each, Snodgrass said the cameras will save Saki’s from fines and violations that could result in the loss of its liquor license.
“Fines can run up to $2,500. After three violations, a bar can lose its liquor license,” he said. “It’s just not worth it.”
Brian Henderson, manager of Maloney’s on Campus, located on University Drive, said the use of the cameras has helped Maloney’s build a good reputation with the Arizona Liquor Control Commission, something he said is worth more than the money made on letting underage people drink in his bar.
Sgt. Noah Johnson, head of the downtown squad of the Tempe police, said he believes the cameras will help deter people from using fake IDs more effectively than the scanners.
“The problem with scanners is that they can only tell you if the ID being scanned is valid. It cannot tell you if the person using the ID is actually the person in the picture.”
“I think that the cameras will help deter people from using fake IDs because people are afraid to do illegal things on camera,” he said.
Johnson added that, if necessary, the tapes made could be used in a criminal investigation.
“Because the cameras take a picture of each ID and each person that comes through the door, law enforcement can go back and investigate whomever we need to,” he said.
Reach Dana Brody at dana5286@aol.com.
