Local bar owners get lesson on alcohol law

A Liquor Control Board official discussed alcohol issues with area vendors. Area bars and restaurants got a lesson in preventing alcohol abuse on Thursday, with an official from the state Liquor Control Board discussing how to deal with underaged or intoxicated customers. The three-hour information session held at the Division of Public Safety's headquarters at 4040 Chestnut Street was part of the LCB's attempt to educate alcohol licensee holders. About 12 University City restaurant and bar owners attended the meeting. At the free program, entitled RAMP -- Responsible Alcohol Management Program -- an LCB alcohol education specialist spoke to business owners about drinking laws, including the service and sale of alcohol to minors and visibly intoxicated individuals. They also discussed how to spot fake IDs. Though the program was held just two weeks after Penn put a stricter version of its alcohol policy in place and urged local bars and restaurants to help enforce drinking laws, University Police Chief Maureen Rush said the program was scheduled to take place before the policy changes were made. The specialist, Walter Lafty, said he gives the program to businesses licensed to sell alcohol throughout the state nearly every day. Licensees have the right to refuse service to anyone they feel is already drunk and are required by state law not to serve alcohol to minors or people who are "visibly" intoxicated. Lafty showed the licensees a video outlining several ways to tell when their customers have been visibly intoxicated. These signs included poor balance, lack of coordination, slurred speech and heightened emotion. He then gave several suggestions about to how to stop serving customers without conflict, adding that the best way to do it is discretely. "It's how you're saying it, not what you're saying," Lafty said. Lafty warned that even if a customer is not intoxicated at a licensee's restaurant or bar, they may still be held accountable if the person gets arrested or into an accident later. Lafty also went over the different types of fake IDs and the best way to detect them. Some things to look for, he said, was whether the seal over the photo is broken, if the font has been altered and the smoothness of the lamination. Rita Fries, manager of the Wawa located at 3744 Spruce Street, said her store will profit from the information she learned at the program. "It helps to pick out who's had too many [drinks]," said Fries, who added that she thinks Wawa's location in University City increases the number of underage students who attempt to buy alcohol there. And while bartender Yuri Korogodsky said that underage drinking is not a large concern at the Museum Catering Company where he works on 33rd and Spruce streets, he said they still have a responsibility to be informed. "We are connected with these problems," Korogodsky said. "It might happen."