Tempe police face rise in sophisticated fake IDs

TEMPE, Ariz. — Fake IDs have always been a problem for a long time, especially around universities.

The Tempe Police Department alone has confiscated around 4,000 over the past few years. But now, these fake IDs are getting more sophisticated and making it harder for establishments to recognize them.

Just last month, officers conducted an underage drinking operation at a Tempe Tavern. Lieutenant Erik Hernandez was there that night and said out of about 200 people who were at the bar, 173 of them were under 21.

“I had never seen that before, with so many underage people going into one bar,:” Hernandez said. “That amount, to me, was very surprising.”

Lt. Hernandez has been with the department for 17 years and leads the Youth Alcohol grant given by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety which focuses on state liquor laws.

“It’s not that we’re trying to ruin your night, it’s our duty to protect the public,” he said.

All minors who were at the bar that night were detained and cited with eight of them getting taken to the City jail.  Hernandez also said a majority of them had fake IDs. 

“We don’t know whether the security guards ID’d everybody, but in order to get into that establishment, you have to be 21 and over,” Hernandez said.

Tempe Tavern in a statement posted on social media claimed they did ID check everyone who was at its bar that night and provided the logs to law enforcement. Tempe Police is still looking into how this all happened.

“From the Tempe tavern incident… a lot of these [IDs] scanned, but the people inside are clearly not 21 they’re way younger than that and so there’s a little more due diligence that’s needed,” Hernandez said.

In recent years, the police department has noticed the IDs have become more realistic. With holographic logos, raised lettering, and barcodes that are able to get scanned.

Hernandez demonstrated using one of the many fake IDs that have been taken from other cases. Using a law enforcement app on his phone, he was able to scan the barcode which loaded up a profile that matched the name, address and date of birth on the ID.

“They’re getting really good,” Hernandez said.

The reason why the information matched Hernandez said is because when people purchase these IDs online they can put in whatever information they want. Typically, the person’s real name, real address, and fake birthdate.

Police ID scanners are synced with Arizona Motor Vehicle Division meaning even if a fake Arizona ID is scanned by an officer, Hernandez said they can quickly determine if it is real or not. For out of state licenses, he said they may need to call dispatch to search in that state’s database. However, local bars don’t have that kind of access with their own scanners.

Still, Hernandez listed out several methods they use to identify a fake driver’s license.

“I think one of the best giveaways that an ID is fake is just the quality of the card itself,” he said.

Fake IDs typically are more flimsy than ones that are government issued. He also said that fakes are blurry or discolored. With the person’s picture and lettering being fuzzy. For the ID that had a barcode that was able to get scanned, Hernandez pointed out the color was off and the person’s picture had faded. Another test is to scan the barcode on the back and if it can’t read, it is likely not real.

The investigation into Tempe Tavern by Tempe Police and the Arizona Department of Liquor licenses and Control is still ongoing.

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