Although carrying and using fake IDs to obtain alcohol is nothing new for underage students around Madison, recent busts like at the Kollege Klub, 529 N. Lake St., and Stillwaters, 250 State St., last month have shown that better fakes are creating big problems for area bars.
\I use my fake about two times a week,"" said a UW-Madison student who wished to remain anonymous. ""It's not that hard to get into the bars.""
""Most bartenders are not trained to look for all the differences in fake IDs, especially those from other states. So as long as it is close, it will pass,"" said a UW-Madison sophomore who makes fake IDs.
But while those who use fakes in bars run the risk of getting caught by random police checks, local bars are finding out that they too can bear the brunt of allowing unknown underage drinkers into their establishment.
""I think having a police presence in the bars is a good deterrent to underage drinking,"" said Dean Hetue, manager of the Plaza Bar and Grill, 319 N. Henry St. ""[But] I feel that the owners of the fake IDs should be punished instead of the bars.""
Currently the city deals with bars on a point system, in which an establishment can receive several points for every underage person that is issued a citation while drinking in the bar. If a bar is awarded 200 points in one year, the Alcohol License Review Committee could impose restrictions, or possibly shut the bar down altogether. Over 500 points have been issued to the Kollege Klub alone, for the 21 citations issued to underage-drinkers in February.
""The [point system], like a lot of laws, leaves a lot up to the discretion of the ALRC,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. ""But not many, if any, local bars have been expelled.""
Verveer said that although he thought using police to patrol bars for fake IDs is a ""fine idea,"" he believes that curbing underage drinking in bars should be a low priority for the city.
""Underage drinking among college students is something that is ingrained in our culture,"" Verveer said. ""Some students have two fakes, which is not only confusing for bars, but also for the police.""
But despite those sentiments, recent police intervention at bars may be accomplishing its goal of discouraging the use of fakes.
""Once they cracked down, I stopped going for a while,"" said the student with the fake ID, adding that he does not approve of the larger busts of bars.
""If it can be shown that bars are just letting kids in, then I think they should be punished, but in individual cases I don't think that bars should be punished for the actions of others,"" he said.
