In an effort to combat the mass of underage drinkers, a bar on Marshall Street has upgraded its technology with a device designed to detect fake IDs right at the barroom door.

The scanners can pick out a fraudulent ID much better than the naked eye, bar employees at DJ’s On The Hill said.

“This is an awesome tool,” said Juan Ortiz, a veteran bouncer who works for the Marshall Street bar.

When somebody attempts to get into the DJ’s bar, the bouncer will run the ID through a scanner and it will immediately notify him of whether the card is an official government-issued ID, Ortiz said.

The scanner reveals specific details on the person’s ID that make it easier for the bouncer to identify whether that individual is 21, Ortiz said. He added that the scanner provides DJ’s with an upgrade over the technology some other Marshall Street area bars use to determine whether an ID is fake.

A fake ID will pop up on a digital screen on the scanner as expired, Ortiz said.

Vendors of alcoholic drinks have begun installing the scanners at the same time as more students are trying to slip into the bars with phony IDs, said Department of Public Safety Associate Chief John Sardino.

Use of the scanners has also grown as New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo has launched a statewide initiative to reduce the number of fake IDs.

“Definitely, there’s a lot of fake IDs nowadays,” said Ortiz, who also has worked at several other local bars. He added that they are hard to spot with the naked eye.

When Ortiz worked at Chuck’s Cafe at on South Crouse Avenue, “blue light” technology was used, which he said made long bar lines even longer.

“We’d look at the ID (with) this little blue light,” he said, “and the blue light would let us know if it’s fake or not. But that takes time.”

Wen Xin | Contributing Photographer

More students are now purchasing their fake IDs online than ever before because of how simple the process has become, Sardino said.

“Now, you are submitting the picture you want to a company online and waiting a week for it to get shipped to you and be delivered via the mail,” Sardino said. “They are really authentic and you really have to take a good look at them to be able to tell it’s not real.”

Some local communities, acting in response to Cuomo’s demands, have begun to more strictly enforce the drinking age laws. More than 133 arrests have been made related to underage drinking, and 63 fake IDs have been confiscated since Cuomo’s announcement, according to a report by WICZ, a Fox affiliate in Binghamton, New York.

Although the state as a whole seems to be stricter on fake IDs than in the past, DPS seems to emphasize a more reparative process, Sardino said.

While DPS officers could issue a uniform traffic ticket for a fake, they instead usually confiscate the ID and refer that student to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, he said.

Students who have been caught with a fake ID for the first time may have to go through some type of educational or alcohol program, Sardino said, or they may be required to provide written documentation about their experience.

Kiran Ramsey | Design Editor

While DJ’s has taken to the new scanner technology, many of the other bars in the Marshall Street area have not picked up new technology in the ongoing effort to combat underage drinking.

The change in procedure in the area has been gradual. Chuck’s still relies on the blue light technology and the naked eye, Ortiz said. Faegan’s Cafe & Pub, also located on South Crouse Avenue, is entirely dependent on the judgment of the bouncer to detect IDs, said Colin Santacroce, who has worked as a bouncer at Faegan’s since August.

Santacroce said he and the bouncers he works with try to notice trends to help make catching fake IDs with the naked eye easier.

“Oftentimes, these kids are ordering them in bunches for a discount,” Santacroce said. “So we will sporadically see a big cluster of one state faked and we look for trends like that.”

Mike Polin, a former bartender at DJ’s and Chuck’s, questions the incentive of the bars in the area to enforce ID laws.

“So scanners are supposed to be foolproof, but that also means that the bar using it actually intends to weed out every underage person.”

The scanners represent a new strategy to play what is still the same game, Polin said.

“It’s like trench warfare,” he said. “One side might push a few feet forward but in the scheme of things, can you really say anything is different?”

Editor’s Note: Over the past month, The Daily Orange has collaborated with the Department of Newspaper and Online Journalism at Syracuse University on a series of stories relating to alcohol culture on the SU campus. Multiple stories will appear in The D.O. in the coming days.

Published on April 6, 2016 at 9:28 pm

Contact Tyler: tmzschac@syr.edu