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CommentsCan I See Your I.D.?
Matt Lemmon
(page 1 of 2)
It begins with a question...if you're lucky. More often, the bored-looking bouncer at the door of your favorite club or bar issues an imperative: "Your ID..." or "Have your ID ready." Now the ball's in your court. If you're older than 21, no sweat-welcome to the party. If you're younger than 21 and haven't wandered into Traffic thinking it was really Geekerz, you're likely using a fake ID.Now the game begins, you versus the bouncer. How good is your ID? How good is the bouncer at spotting frauds? "It's definitely an art form," says Midnight Rodeo manager Douglas Sims of the constant game of one-upsmanship between venues and the thirsty minors willing to risk prosecution to get into bars and nightclubs. The game's stakes got a little higher in Springfield last month, when people under 21 were banned from many local venues via voter referendum. While the new law (which bans anyone younger than 21 from any establishment that makes more than 60 percent of its revenue form alcohol sales) has only been in effect for two weeks, many bar owners and minors believe a spike in fake ID usage is inevitable.
Kelly Finkbiner, special agent with the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, says Missouri cities with similar 21-and-up-only laws generally see more fake IDs, though she says loopholes in Springfield's law should prevent the numbers from rising too much. And while Finkbiner's department keeps its eyes on-and helps bar owners learn to spot-bogus IDs, it's local law enforcement and the county prosecutor's office that deal with them, making this particular battle strictly a Springfield one.
How do minors beat the system?
We found the primary ways underage bar goers try and fool the authorities (in descending order of prevalence):
• Using the ID of another (carrying a legit ID that belongs to another person, who has either given it to them or had it stolen)
• Using a "scratched" or altered ID
• True fakes made with the user's own photo and information
Using the ID of another: "Kelly" (a Missouri State junior who would prefer to remain anonymous) has been using a fake ID for the better part of a year-not fake, really, just not hers. "I got mine through complete luck," Kelly says. "I don't know the girl in it...surprisingly, she looks just like me." How'd that happen? "A friend from high school went to a pub crawl. She saw a stack of IDs sitting on a table [and took one]," Kelly says, claiming she's never been questioned anywhere...including St. Louis and Las Vegas. ("Yikes!" she says.) Others among her friends have gotten IDs bequeathed to them by older friends or sorority sisters-indicating a veritable black market of contraband plastic among young people.
But using a fake isn't as simple as handing it over willy-nilly and being waved in, Kelly says. "You just have to use them at the 'right' places so they don't get taken." What are the "right" places in Springfield? Among the fakers we talked to, there didn't seem to be a single place in town that was immune to fake IDs, though Icon Nightclub and Boogie Café were pointed out as having tough reputations.
How tough is Springfield on a scale of one to 10? "I'd say an eight," says "Janet," 20, another minor who wishes to remain anonymous because she's been using her 25-year-old sister's ID for almost two years. Janet says it's important to know individual bouncers since some are more lenient, while others are pretty tough. "I have this one friend who looks nothing like her ID," Janet says. "It's kinda ridiculous how she gets into places."
The advantage to using a real ID-particularly one of a sibling-is obvious: It's not actually fake, so as long as the resemblance is strong and you memorize the data the onus falls on the busy bar employee to catch you (more on those techniques later). Another plus for the minor: Even if you're caught, it's tough to be convicted unless the bouncer has lots of information on you-or the ID was lost or stolen and the rightful owner can prove it. Be warned: It is possible for a person (read: big brother or sister) who lets a minor use an ID to be charged with a crime if prosecutors can prove the ID wasn't lost or stolen, though authorities say such proof is very hard to come by. That's why it's so vital for bouncers and bars to get as much information on the perpetrators as they can before the subject gets spooked and splits, she says.
In addition to the sibling advantage, there appears to be a sex advantage too. Joe Sturgis, a junior at Drury University, says ladies are more likely to fake it successfully than guys. "I think it's definitely easier for them to get into bars than men," Sturgis says. And that's not just so much frustrated babbling: Janet agrees. "Even if you don't look like your ID, if you're hot you can go in," she says. "Guys, if it's not to a tee they're like 'See ya' later!'"
Scratched IDs: While rarer, when done skillfully, altered IDs are nearly undetectable. Midnight Rodeo manager Sims says the main way they see Missouri driver's licenses altered is when someone uses a pin to dig into the coating and change the date of birth. The most common alteration? Turning "1988" into "1983." Sims says if someone were to take the time to properly fill and smooth the hole they made, they might never be caught. The main defense against altered IDs is a UV penlight, which bouncers use to look for imperfections or opaque printing on IDs.
True fakes: Go ahead and Google "fake IDs." We dare you (though you might get a visit from Homeland Security-they hate things like that). There are literally thousands of sites dedicated to the art of faking IDs and documents; they promise a flawless ID if you just send them a photo, your info, a copy of your signature and a significant sum of money. Of course, many of the sites are scams. Want more bad news? "Of course a lot of those will be very poor quality," says Joe Hodgin, district supervisor for the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. Missouri is one of the nation's most progressive when it comes to ID card safeguards (for details see diagram at right). That means most of the true fakes found in Springfield are from surrounding states with less-stringent safety features. Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas are commonly found at Midnight Rodeo, Sims says; Icon Nightclub owner Paul Sundy has seen a rash of fake Illinois licenses in recent months.
Big-city novelty shops and some roving spring break parasites will also make a fake ID, but look carefully: A bad or cheaply done fake often has something as obscenely revealing as "This is not a government document" or "This is a novelty item" printed across the back. Smooth.
The most successful fakes come from private entrepreneurs who are too savvy to put their business on the Internet. "Hillary"-yet another not-to-be-identified Missouri State student-who says the two forged IDs she's had (one Missouri, one not) were made by the proverbial "friend of a friend" in Colorado. Ironically, Hillary was the only person we spoke to who had been busted, but she's been nailed twice, once almost two years ago at Jordan Creek and again this September in St. Louis. Both times the ID was seized, but no fine or charges ever followed.
"I had one for like a year [in high school] and then came here freshman year from St. Louis," Hillary says. Even though she was warned that police officers were checking IDs, and Jordan Creek has always been an 18-and-up club, Hillary still handed the officer her fake. "I guess I didn't want to pay the $10 cover instead of $5," she says. She initially denied the ID was fake, but when the officer told her she could either go to jail or hand over the ID, she fessed up. Hillary was not prosecuted, though she says a friend caught that same night got a $3,000 ticket. Six months later she had another ID, and used it until this September when it was confiscated in St. Louis.
Is it worth the risk? Hillary says yes. "The reason I do it is most of my friends are a little older than me," she says. "It was never a drinking thing, they just said 'we're all going out, and you can go with us,' so why not?"
Hillary echoes Janet when she says Springfield is a tough place to pass a fake. "There are very few places that I'm willing to use it, and then I was afraid," she says. What was the advantage of having a true fake (even though she was caught twice)? Second-form ID. When a bouncer asked for another form of ID with Hillary's name on it, she always had something ready.
