By
The Wildcat Opinions Board
Local bars have gotten a harsh reality check this semester - Tucson Police Department officers have been paying them regular visits to crack down on underage drinkers using false identification.
Three underage UA students were caught by TPD officers during Friday night's raid at Maloney's, 213 N. Fourth Ave. Two of the students were using other people's IDs, and the third was using a counterfeit ID.
TPD's recent efforts in keeping underage people out of bars are important. However, the police department has taken somewhat drastic and unfair measures to do so. Monitoring a bar for a good portion of an evening, and requiring most customers to show them valid identification is unfair to the business interests of the bar and verges on invasion of privacy.
There is a twofold alternative to halting bearers of false IDs. TPD should continue conducting searches, but they need to be occasional and random spot checks. Also, local bars need to take the initiative and be more strict about whom they let in.
Continuing the style of monitoring that they have been using this semester could eventually drive business away from bars, for legal drinkers will not want the burden of police officers looking over their shoulders every time they engage in a legal activity.
Instead of this style of monitoring, TPD should consider randomly spotchecking local bars. The threat of such spot checks, and not knowing when they will occur, will force underage drinkers with false IDs to think twice before trying to get into a bar.
Clearly, it is important that TPD take the issue head on; their recent monitoring of bars proves their commitment to keeping underage drinkers out. Considering how lax some bars have been in the past, the need for such monitoring is evident.
However, as a long-term measure, TPD ought to consider a less extreme and more effective solution to the problem: assigning an officer to do random bar checks every weekend. The threat of a random police check is much less intrusive than a full night of police monitoring, and, in the long run, it is much more effective for keeping underage drinkers away from bars.
Furthermore, bars should take the recent TPD blitz as a warning, and they should do something about it. Instead of being relaxed about false IDs and letting in people who are clearly underage, they should be tougher about who they let in. If they take the cause on themselves, they will not have to fear a police presence that could drive away business.
Bars need to take the issue by the horns and keep underage drinkers out of their establishments. Not only does such a measure avoid police intervention, it upholds the bar's responsibility to the law.
This editorial represents the collaborative stance of the Arizona Daily Wildcat opinions board
