Downtown retailers are reporting good early use of new ID scanners provided free by UW-Madison, but they note that a bigger test for the devices begins in the coming weeks.

"After (the students move back) and then obviously when classes start on (Sept.) 4, that'll be more of a benchmark," said Richard Schober, owner of MacTaggart's Market, 230 Lakelawn Place.

Schober received one of the free scanners, valued at $1,000, in early July with seven other stores that sell alcohol near campus. UW-Madison distributed the scanners to help boost the retailers' ability to weed out fake IDs.

Schober said his scanner was working fine, though with the smaller summer student population, he wasn't yet finding any more illegal IDs than he did before he had the device.

"It's just another tool," he said. "It's working well."

The scanners given to the stores are similar to those used since 2007 to discourage underage drinking on campus at Memorial Union and Union South, UW-Madison leaders said. The program is being funded by contributions from the UW-Madison Police Department and the chancellor's office, with some support from city officials who helped with retailer contact information.

City officials said they welcomed the university's program as another small step toward reducing underage drinking. They hope blanketing the core Downtown with retail scanners could help prevent students with fake IDs from shopping around until they find a store where they can buy alchohol.

A month after the scanners were distributed, city alcohol policy coordinator Katherine Plominski said she was hearing good feedback from retailers through her university contacts.

"There were just some (store owners) who wanted some follow-up services, (asking), Can you talk me through it again?' " Plominski said, adding that the university provided that start-up help.

"Obviously it's a tool that only works as well as you use it," Plominski said. "But training opportunities are there, which is wonderful."

Officials said the scanners are meant to supplement a store clerk's normal carding procedure. Clerks would still have to be sure the card holder is the same person pictured on the card, while the machine would authenticate age and other details on the card.

Retailers using the scanners have pledged to turn over any fake IDs they find to police every three months. Police in turn can glean information from examining the cards, such as what states are producing the most fake IDs at a given time and the latest techniques being used to alter IDs.

"It could be the hologram or the magnetic strip or just the photo," said Dawn Crim, the university official handling the program. "So it provides quite a bit of data that police on the street can then zero in on."

-- Karen Rivedal

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