By
Jose Ceja
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Improving technology, easier access make detecting false IDs more difficult
In boxes and bags tucked away in a local bar, a graveyard grows each night.
A collection of fake IDs, stored at Dirtbag's, encompasses almost two decades of students trying to add just a few years to their age.
Gary Welch, owner of Dirtbag's, 1800 E. Speedway Blvd., and caretaker of this stack of thousands of IDs taken away from underaged people since 1982, said he expects the collection will do most of its growing within the next few weeks.
As University of Arizona students come back to school for a new semester, many of them bring along identification cards, which they are anxious to test at local bars. Unfortunately for them, Dirtbag's has been claiming up to five a night, said Adam Thrall, head bouncer of the bar.
Thrall said his staff undergoes a training program to learn how to detect these IDs, which "are usually pretty obvious."
Thrall said that although his staff is well trained, it is at a disadvantage because of the ease with which people can obtain "legitimate" IDs from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Students, Thrall said, take someone else's social security card and birth certificate and present it to the DMV in exchange for an identification card.
"Our biggest problem is people using identification cards," he said. "If you go to the DMV, I would say there is a 95 percent chance that you can get one.
"Law enforcement doesn't seem to be too worried about this," Thrall added.
Bouncers at Dirtbag's usually ask people with these identification cards for a second form of identification, however the lack of security at the DMV makes their job more difficult, Thrall said.
But 19-year-old Katie Kelly, a business sophomore, is ahead of the game. She got her fake ID from an older friend, and even has a second form of identification to back it up.
"I got (the IDs) so I could purchase alcohol," Kelly said.
She also said she's used her fake ID "countless" times and although she has sometimes gotten suspicious looks, she is never worried about being caught.
Perhaps further complicating Thrall's task are people like Ben.
Ben, who did not disclose his last name, is a business junior at the UA and has been making fake IDs for years.
He said he has made several IDs that have made it into most bars in Tucson - including Dirtbag's.
Although he refused to disclose his "secrets," Ben said he has been making these IDs since his freshman year at the UA and recently acquired a roll of official hologram tape from the DMV.
Ben said that he makes IDs for his friends and does not charge, but knows someone who has turned this craft into a profitable business.
Ben said he knows someone who charges $150 for "perfect" IDs.
"He had 10 or 15 to make when I talked to him," he said. "But when you start to charge is when you get caught."
Internet sites such as fakeid.net, which claim to be "devoted solely to fake ID information," are also contributing to the problem by offering IDs for sale or instructions on how to make them.
To combat these sophisticated IDs, bars around the UA have begun to employ many methods to make sure only those over 21 can enter.
Matt Snyder, manager of Maloney's, 213 N. Fourth Ave., said that all of his bouncers are trained by a private agency to ensure they can keep up with the ever-improving IDs.
Snyder also said any questionable ID presented to Maloney's is written down in a log book so it can be verified later, he said.
"To tell you the truth, they (the IDs) are getting a lot better, probably because the technology is getting a lot better," Snyder said. "I don't know how they do it, it's pretty impressive."
Snyder said that bars will often see waves of a particular state template - as if a surge of migrants from Montana or South Dakota were relocating in Tucson - as an indication that an ID may be fake.
Maloney's is occasionally visited by the Tucson Police Department, which employs "undercover" officers to drop in on bars around the UA area to see if any of its patrons appear underage, Snyder said.
Sgt. Marco Borboa, a public information officer for the Tucson Police Department, said police presence at local bars is not too frequent and usually results from calls for other disturbances, not just fake IDs.
Borboa said during the beginning of each school year is when TPD is most active against fake IDs and conducts spot checks at local bars.
"We have a lot of new students coming in, trying to get themselves acquainted, and until they meet people to socialize with, they need a place to gather," he said.
Borboa said students who use fake IDs to gain entrance into a bar may be subjected to the potentially dangerous situations that can arise from drinking - such as bar brawls or alcohol poisoning.
"The laws are there for a specific purpose, and you have to consider the consequences," Borboa said. "When you are dealing with any type of underaged drinking, people just think of the immediate consequences and usually not the long term."
Jose Ceja can be reached at Jose.Ceja@wildcat.arizona.edu
