Beginning in March, UW-Madison will offer electronic ID scanners and free training to select downtown bars and liquor stores in an effort to crack down on underage drinking and the use of fake IDs.
The PACE Project's Partnership Council, a coalition of campus and city members aimed at curbing high-risk drinking among students, initiated the ID scanner program through the campus Alcohol Policy Group.
This is the university saying we are concerned about underage drinking,"" said Dawn Crim, special assistant to Chancellor John Wiley.
""The ID scanner is a tool to assist the bars in the density area with proper carding and proper responsible beverage service.""
Crim said the university began thinking of ways to improve identification checks at downtown establishments after the recent success of ID scanners at Memorial Union, the only licensed alcohol vendor on campus.
The city does not mandate bars and liquor stores to use ID scanners, mainly because of cost issues, according to Katherine Plominski, Madison's alcohol policy coordinator. The price of one scanner is roughly $700, which can be a pricey purchase for smaller establishments, she said.
According to Crim, funding for the ID scanners will come from the budgets of various campus directors in the Alcohol Policy Group. She said each director has financial resources set aside for alcohol initiatives.
The ID scanners will only be offered to establishments in the Alcohol License Density Plan area, which is located near campus in the core of downtown.
Additionally, establishments must fit a certain criteria to qualify for the ID scanners, Crim said. Bars that are new, newly transferred to the Density Plan area or facing disciplinary action from the Alcohol License Policy Committee for underage drinking violations are eligible.
Liquor stores in the Density Plan area also qualify. Establishments considered restaurants by the terms of their liquor license cannot receive the ID scanners, but are encouraged to practice responsible ID checking procedures, Crim said.
Plominski said establishments can reject the ID scanners if they don't want to use them.
""You can't make anybody do anything unless you put it as a condition on their license or you pass an ordinance requiring everybody to do it,"" she said.
Richard Lyshek, owner of Ram Head, said his establishment currently uses a different type of ID scanner that takes pictures of the ID.
""I'm willing to try anything, but the problem is that these systems do have a few major flaws to them,"" Lyshek said.
Worn-out IDs may not scan properly and underage patrons with a valid ID that is not theirs could still enter the establishment, he said.
Plominski said the program will also offer free training on how to work the ID scanners so they can be used to enhance current ID checking policies.
