As fake identification cards become increasingly indistinguishable from the real thing, many bars around the country are buying high-tech scanners to combat them.
But even with the new technology available, University City bars are continuing to rely on the sight of their trained bouncers to pick out patrons under the legal drinking age of 21.
With about six bars located within one block of Penn's campus, only one -- Brownies -- uses the technology.
The scanners range in price from approximately $400 to $4,000, depending on whether they can read the ID's magnetic strip or bar code.
Matt Herrington, an employee at Smokey Joe's, confirmed that the bar does not use a scanner or a black light, which picks up holograms invisible to the eye on real IDs.
"The problem is, a scanner doesn't do much," he said. "All fake IDs that are even remotely good scan," he said.
Herrington specifically named California, Texas and Connecticut fake IDs to be "almost identical" to the real ones. To combat this, he said that Smokey Joe's bouncers almost always ask to see a PennCard, which -- by the expiration date -- can usually tell them if the patron is a freshman or a sophomore and should be turned away.
A Wharton freshman who did not want to use his name uses his "chalked" New York state junior license. The term refers to writing over one's date of birth on an ID -- for instance, changing a 1985 birthday to read 1980.
Although he's been turned down twice -- once at Allegro Pizza and once at Marbar -- the student has never had it taken.
He tries to avoid places he thinks are more likely to turn him down.
"Smoke's has a reputation of being one of the harder" bars to get into, he said. "Mad 4 Mex has a reputation of being impossible."
Although Mad 4 Mex, near 34th and Moravian streets, does not use a scanner, it is notorious among Penn students for confiscating fake IDs -- something most other bars are not known to do.
Mad 4 Mex, keeps a binder full of collected IDs. Their policy is to confiscate any fake IDs they find.
Wesley Celestino, a manager at Mad 4 Mex, said that if a patrons want their fake IDs back, "We'll call the police and have them sort it out."
Possibly due to the restaurant's reputation, Celestino said the bouncers only see "a couple" of fake IDs on an average night.
In contrast, Herrington said that on a Saturday night, bouncers at Smoke's turn away "probably 40 to 50 fake IDs at least."
He speculated that the high number of fake IDs seen by bouncers at Smoke's could be due to the fact that the bar is so close to campus.
With so much of the campus under the legal drinking age -- most students do not turn 21 until their junior year -- Herrington said that there are a lot of fake IDs being used, "including ones that [bouncers] aren't catching."
As at Smoke's and Mad 4 Mex, asking for backup identification and confiscating fake IDs is the norm for bars around Georgetown University's campus.
Henry Freedman, a sophomore at Georgetown, said, "No matter where you go, pretty much they have scanners. If they don't, you better have two IDs with your picture on it."
Freedman said that his ID has been both rejected and nearly confiscated and that bouncers have threatened to call the police about him.
"Whenever there's someone at the door, you know you're in trouble."
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