The next time you’re standing nervously in line waiting for a bouncer to check your identification — unnerved because the card you’re holding is either not yours or an illegal altered version of your own ID — it might be wise to just turn around and wait for something else: your 21st birthday.
Technological advances in graphics software, which many use to replicate or alter IDs and driver’s licenses, are making the jobs of bouncers, police and even the Department of Motor Vehicles a little more complicated, though their efforts are stepping up to the new challenges.
Such was the case for a University student who was recently arrested on two counts of Forgery I, a mandated state felony carrying potentially hefty fines and jail time. Police were notified from an anonymous tip that the student manufactured IDs from his computer and was selling them to fellow dorm residents.
“Now, a circuit court judge will determine what his punishment will be,” Eugene Police Department Officer Ed Tsui said. “But it’s an interesting issue really because there definitely has been an increase in the last few years of this sort of thing.”
Tsui said students are routinely charged with various manners of false identification, including using another’s license, changing the date of birth on their own or downloading other state’s license templates from the Internet and inputting information onto them.
University Housing director Michael Eyster said students are not automatically evicted from the residence halls when charged with felonies, but in some cases, under the conduct code, he has the option of issuing a summary eviction notice, which takes effect immediately.
He said he isn’t specifically aware of how prevalent making IDs is on campus, but through talking with students over the years he’s heard that many incoming freshmen already have fake ones in their possession when they arrive.
“It’s sort of a ‘don’t leave home without it’ mentality,” Eyster said. “Almost like a prerequisite after graduating high school, students get an ID before even coming here.”
Each of the related offenses carry fines through the local court system, but in some cases multiple agencies get involved to assess added charges.
For instance, if a fake driver’s license is confiscated at a bar, it is then forwarded to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission [OLCC], which can issue a citation based on ORS 165.805, terming it a Class C misdemeanor. If you are so cited, the DMV has the power to suspend driving privileges up to one year.
The official charge, minor misrepresentation of age, has a mandatory $265 fine attached, and can be expanded under the vehicle code [if the ID is a license] for an additional $500. A second offense warrants an automatic $500 fee.
“If you falsify a license or misuse someone else’s you will be suspended from driving yourself,” DMV Assistant Supervisor Bob Comstock said. “Oregon has some of the strictest enforcements on the books and we follow them very closely.”
Doc’s Pad Manager Matt Bjerke said bouncers at his bar seize an average of 20 false IDs per week, many of which come from students who are only months away from turning 21.
“There are some really, really good IDs being used,” Bjerke said. “But it’s just not worth it, not worth the trouble they get in.”
At Rennie’s Landing, where a busy weekend turns up at least 10 illegal IDs a night, bouncers like Jon Green pride themselves on being particularly adept at sniffing out fake cards at the door.
“I’m very good at IDs,” Green said.
His techniques include asking for separate, multiple pieces of identification if a presented card is “beat up enough,” or looking for alteration clues on the dates and numbers. Also, many states have “secret” combinations of digits, like expiration dates that add up to a specified number.
Bars and restaurants are required to have on hand an OLCC booklet with detailed depictions of the license forms from all 50 states, updated annually.
Dan Geyer, bar manager at Rennie’s, said the holograms many states are adding to their placards is helping to make falsifying IDs more difficult.
“Basically it’s a big game,” he said. “But I don’t think people realize how ridiculous it is. Most of them only have a few months before they’re 21. It’s worth the wait.”