Confiscated identification cards at Cue Club on Mill Avenue are sorted into three categories: falsified ID cards, Arizona IDs that are real but that didn’t belong to the person presenting it for identification, and out-of-state cards that also misidentified the presenter. (Photo by Molly J. Smith)For most incoming ASU students, it’s a rite of passage: graduate high school, move out of mom and dad’s house and find a way to get drunk.
In 2012, Tempe Police seized more than 1,700 fake identification cards, leading to more than 100 arrests at the Mill Avenue District alone, according to authorities.
Although the number of seized IDs has gone down from more than 2,100 in 2011, it is still a major area of focus, Tempe Police Officer Rob Ferraro said.
“We feel that fake ID use is highly important to identify and tackle, because if we weren’t keeping track and being so proactive, I would shudder to think what it would be like on Mill,” he said. “It would be a free-for-all down there, and it would be almost out of control.”
A Disservice?
Tempe lawyer Matthew Lopez has represented more than 100 ASU students in his three years of handling underage drinking cases.He said he disagrees “wholeheartedly” with local police’s focus on punishing underage drinkers in Tempe, and that he is not sure why the department does so.
“It’s the million-dollar question,” he said, “and I have no idea why, other than it is an incredible moneymaker for the court system.”
Lopez said about half of the 100 student he's represented have been forced by their parents to leave ASU after their cases. He said in the long run, ASU and Tempe police are doing the ASU student body a “disservice by being so strict on this issue.”
“It's not solving anything either, because you cannot prevent college kids from drinking," he said. "You just can’t do it. I don’t condone it, but historically that is what people do. Kids will be kids, and that is part of the college experience."
Kids Being Kids
Supply chain management junior “Chanel,” who wishes to remain anonymous because she does not want her future to be negatively affected, said she bought her first fake ID at 16 for $10 from a friend, who “literally scanned and laminated it."“I always hung out with older people and I hated having to ask them to buy me alcohol,” she said. “I always felt like I was bothering them by asking all of the time, so I decided to get a fake.”
Chanel said authorities in Missouri confiscated her first fake ID, and she moved on to using an ID that she received from a friend who was over 21.
Security guards at the Vine Tavern on Rural Road and Apache Boulevard took that ID from her the summer before her freshman year, she said.
“I just walked away, because I didn’t want to start my college career by getting arrested," she said.
Chanel said less than two months later, she purchased two fake IDs for $100 from the now defunct website, IDchief.ph.
“The more you ordered, the cheaper it was,” she said, “so a bunch of us in the dorms were trying to get a bunch of people together to order them.”
She said the website allowed purchasers to use their own pictures and fill in any information they wanted on the fake IDs. They even had magnetized strips which scanned to prove they were legitimate.
Chanel said she used her real name on her fake in case security asked for a second form of ID and listed her birthday in the same month so she would know her astrological sign.
One of the two IDs she purchased from IDchief.ph was taken away within a few months, but she said she managed to keep the other until her 21st birthday, because she knew never to use it on Mill Avenue.
“Having it for so long completely changed my drinking experience,” Chanel said. “Yeah, the fake IDs were awesome, but nothing is better than going out to happy hour with my mom and having a beer and knowing that it is legal.”
Chanel’s roommate, “James,” who also wishes to remain anonymous to avoid incriminating himself, is almost 21 and has had his fake ID since he was 19.
He said he ordered two from IDchief.ph and began going out to bars and drinking five nights a week.
One of his IDs was seized shortly after he received it when he attempted to use it at the Mill Cue Club on Mill Avenue.
“One of my friends really wanted to go to Mill Avenue, and I was like, ‘No, I have heard tons of stories about Mill Avenue, and I am telling you we are going to get (the IDs) taken away,’” he said. “Of course they took them away that night, and I haven’t gone back to Mill since.”
James said since then he has been much more careful. Now, he only uses his fake ID away from the University and only when he knows a bar is not very strict.
Chanel said now that she is of drinking age, she realizes the error of her ways and would advise fellow students who are underage against getting a fake ID.
“Don’t do it,” she said. “You are putting yourself at risk for being arrested, and I did so much hardcore drinking in high school and in college before I turned 21. It made my 21st birthday less enjoyable and less exciting.”
James does not agree with Chanel and said he is still very excited to turn 21. He would offer different advice to a potential fake ID user.
“I say, 'Go for it.' It’s really a lot of fun,” he said. “It might not be the best decision because it is illegal, but if you just try to be smart about your illegal decisions, you’ll probably have a great time.”
Security at Cue Club on Mill Avenue checks the authenticity of a driver’s license on Friday, April 12. The bar has one of the highest rates for catching fake IDs on Mill Avenue. (Photo by Molly J. Smith)ID Pong
Dennis Kunselman, head of security at the Mill Cue Club, has worked on Mill Avenue for more than six years.He said the Mill Cue Club, which seized the most IDs on Mill Avenue in 2012, has a younger demographic and therefore is an attractive choice for underage fake ID users.
“We get a high volume of young people coming through, and this is usually the place that people under 21 want to be,” he said.
Kunselman said the bar can confiscate more than 20 fake IDs per week. These are an even mix of fraudulent IDs and real IDs used by another person.
He attributes the bar’s high numbers to a rigorous training process that teaches door people to be extremely observant and vigilant while checking IDs.
“Sometimes when people check large volumes of IDs, they get lost in the movement of it all,” he said. “We make sure that every ID is thoroughly inspected and that there is not even a shadow of a doubt that this ID is not fake or falsified in any way.”
Vine Tavern manager Mark McEuen said he confiscates anywhere from three to 20 fake IDs in a night.
He has been working at the Vine since 1999 and said his main method of fake ID detection is his observation skills.
McEuen said the first tell-tale sign of a fake ID is the picture.
"I usually look for the chin,” he said. “You can fake a lot of stuff. You can do your hair just like the picture and have the same eye color, but you can't fake the chin."
If he is still unsure after examining the picture, McEuen said he asks the person to match his or her signature.
“You sign your name on stuff everyday, and you should’ve signed it at the DMV when you got the ID,” he said.
McEuen said these tactics are not as useful when the ID comes from a website like IDchief.ph because purchasers can use their signatures, pictures and addresses when they order.
He said the IDs from IDchief.ph were getting past him until his son, who checks IDs at the Marquee Theatre, turned him on to one of their major flaws.
“I checked the book that shows you every state’s ID," he said. "I blacklighted it. I checked all the issue numbers on it. I scanned it, and everything matched up. But my son showed me that when you bent them they cracked, and you could see they were a hotel keycard, not a real ID.”
McEuen said the ID makers have since fixed this error, making detection that much harder.
Lee Hill, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, said the technology of detecting real and false IDs can’t keep up with the technology of creating them.
“It’s a ridiculous pingpong game between the regulators and the fake ID makers,” she said.
A Night in Jail, A Lifelong Convict
Both McEuen and Kunselman said they seize IDs that appear suspicious and will not give them back unless the presenter agrees to have them call the police to verify it is real.This is almost always the only way the police will show up and make an arrest, Tempe Officer Ferraro said.
When police do show up, the best thing the fake ID presenter can do is to be honest and forthcoming to officers, Ferraro said. In most cases, they will only receive a citation, he said.
“But what really determines if they are going to spend the night in jail is if they start to lie and make us dig for information,” he said. “If that is the case, once we determine it isn’t them on the ID, in all likelihood an arrest will be made.”
Ferraro said offenders could be charged with up to four misdemeanors, which carry a maximum of six months in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.
He said most first-time offenders arrested or cited in Tempe will be eligible for an alcohol diversion program and can get the crime expunged from their records.
Lopez said he has never seen a client get jail time for using a fake ID, but he has had clients get probation and even lose their driving privileges for six months.
Meanwhile, those convicted of using a fake ID in the University Lakes Justice Court, which handles many cases from ASU Police, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, are not eligible for diversion and will have the crime on their records for the rest of their lives.
“In that case, if you are applying for a job and you are ever asked if you have been convicted of a crime, your answer would have to be yes,” Lopez said.
Ferraro said police and bar vigilance makes a difference in mitigating crimes committed by underage drinkers before they happen. He said IDchief.ph was likely responsible for the 2011 spike in ID seizures, but he looks forward to seeing if the numbers decline again after 2013.
“It's important that we get the word out and that it's known that the downtown is an adult playground that is meant for adults who are over 21,” he said. “It’s not meant to be an 18-plus college party down here.”
In 2012, the Tempe Police Department collected nearly 1,800 fake IDs from businesses on Mill Avenue. Tempe Police have teamed up with these local businesses to help with crack down the use of fake IDs. (Photo by Hector Salas Almeida)
Reach the reporter at npmendo@asu.edu or follow him @npmendoza
