Fake ID Use in Chapel Hill

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It’s been almost two months since North Carolina legislators passed a new fake I-D law.
They hoped it would combat underage drinking on the state’s college campuses.
But as Michael Handy tells us, the law is having little effect on the U-N-C campus.

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Nat-sound from Woody’s Bar

It’s Saturday night and business as usual at most Chapel Hill bars.
A new fake ID law is in effect but doesn’t seem to dampen the festivities.
Bar-goer Jill Stevens says the new law isn’t stopping her from using her fake ID

“I’ve never seen it enforced anywhere in Chapel Hill, so I’m probably going to still use it about the same amount that I have been.”

Stevens isn’t alone.
Most students say they’ve seen few changes since the new law passed.
UNC junior Anne Taylor also uses a fake ID
She says it all comes down to money.

“A lot of the bouncers in a lot of the bars don’t really care any way because they want you, they want to make money and they want you to drink, and so unless I think they thought an undercover person was around I don’t think they would really care.”

Woody’s bouncer Phil Toner says the lack of officers is the problem.
Toner rarely sees anyone from the Alcohol Law Enforcement office...also known as the A-L-E.
But he says his bar is still tough on fake ID’s.

“We run a tight ship here and I mean we don’t feel that they’re against us, we’re working with them to keep the underage drinking down. We take every ID that we find and, you know, we give them to the ALE, and fill the paper work out on them and whatnot and we haven’t really changed a thing at all. It’s the same old stuff. We’ve been doing this for two years now.”

But Woody’s seems to be one of the few checking ID’s closely.
Both Stevens and Taylor continue to use their fake ID’s at several bars.
Stevens says she’s shocked her ID still works.

“I don’t look too much like the girl on it and it’s also expired.”

That expired ID got Stevens into both Top of the Hill and La Hacienda.
We tried to interview bouncers at both establishments.
Neither would comment.
Toner isn’t surprised by their reaction.
He says most bars are knowingly letting people in with fake ID’s.

“I’m not naming any names or I’m not going to say all the places, but a lot of the places around here are, they pretty much, you know, ALE comes and they’re pretty much terrified of them. They think that something’s going to happen and they don’t, you know, they get paranoid.”

The new law makes it a class one misdemeanor for simply possessing a fake
ID…meaning, a person caught with a fake now faces up to a one-thousand-dollar fine and one-hundred hours of community service.
But the responsibility of enforcing the law is ultimately left to the bars.

Nat Sound from Woody’s Bar

In Chapel Hill, I’m Michael Handy.