Police critical of bars' ID checks
Report details poor job done by Champaign bar doormen

by John Zaremba
Senior writer

Doormen at Champaign bars are doing a poor job when they check IDs, according to a report issued by the Champaign police.

Using over-21 IDs given to them by police, underage volunteers were admitted into Champaign bars 42 of 46 times. Of the 46 attempts, six were at small bars that do not regularly use doormen.

The people pictured in the IDs looked substantially different from the volunteers, said Champaign liquor enforcement officer Sgt. Scott Friedlein. In some instances, a white girl entered bars using an ID that pictured a light-skinned black woman. She was admitted to C.O. Daniels, Central Tap, Legends and White Horse Inn.

Some of the minors were as much as seven inches shorter than their IDs said. One 17-year-old was admitted to Mike and Molly's, Mabel's and Bradley's Country. The ID he used said he was 26 and said he was six inches taller and 60 pounds heavier.

Police are issuing warnings to the bars and plan to continue the fake-ID checks. Further violations will result in fines when police start checking doormen more frequently next fall.

"They're going to have a couple of months to get their acts together," Friedlein said.

White Horse Inn owner Dan Manolakes declined to comment on the report specifically, but said all White Horse employees undergo the required training; he hopes they learn from it.

"It'd be a waste of their time if they didn't," he said.

Of the 23 bars checked, only one - Chester Street - rejected both IDs. Orchid allowed one minor to enter, and rejected the other.

City regulations require bar employees to take specialized training courses. Doormen are taught how to carefully examine IDs before letting people into bars. That training, Friedlein said, has been lost on doormen.

"I was extremely disappointed and angered. I spent a great deal of time ... what I've found is that the employees just don't care," he said.

Even more surprising to Friedlein was that bars knew the undercover checks were going to take place.

"They didn't heed the warning," he said.

Most of the bars checked were on campus. But Richard Stockton, the student representative on the city's Liquor Advisory Commission, was quick to point out that doormen at city bars were just as negligent.

"They blame these problems on campus, but everyone's doing it," said Stockton, a law student. "It's pretty clear that something has to be done."

Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart was unavailable for comment.

City Council Member Sher Hampel said Friedlein's report indicates that bar owners are too lenient with their employees.

"The bar owners need to have a serious talk with employees and say, 'This happened here. Why?'" said Hampel, who is also on the Liquor Advisory Commission. "If the employees would abide by that, we'd have less of a problem."