‘We Check for 21’ Begins 18th Year

WILDWOOD — Hundreds of local restaurant owners, servers, bartenders, bouncers and others involved in alcohol service learned how to recognize bogus IDs and other useful tricks of the trade at Cape May County’s 18th annual “We Check for 21” program on Thur., June 24 at Wildwoods Convention Center.
This year was the 18th time the county produced a training session for local licensed businesses and their employees.
In 1993, when the county “We Check for 21” coined the slogan, “If you’re too young to buy, don’t even try,” there were just 40 businesses involved. This year, there were over 200 businesses and close to 500 employees involved in the training sessions.
Part of the program’s success could be measured by the location where the sessions were held. Formerly, they were held in the freeholders’ meeting room of the county Administration Building, which holds about 125, and was always jammed.
“State officials are always amazed at the turnout we have at these events,” Freeholder Gerald Thornton told the Herald. Thornton, who oversees county social and health services, acted as the master of ceremony for the program.
“You here are the front line to protect Cape May County residents and visitors from underage drinking,” said Thornton, retired, who had 36 years experience in the business as a wine salesman. “Take your positions seriously. You’re not only protecting us, but also protecting yourself and your business.”
Thornton presented a report on the Memorial Day Weekend Turn-Away Program in which licensees count the number of underage individuals they denied service to on the unofficial start of the summer holiday weekend. Thornton said 297 individuals were refused the sale of alcoholic beverages based on their failure to prove that they were at least 21 years of age.
Since the county started the Memorial Day count in 2002, local businesses have refused 3,650, he added.
“The turn-away count is even more significant if you assume that each turn away had two friends who would have drank with him/her,” Thornton said in a release. “The number would then triple to over 11,000 kids in the past nine years who didn’t drink illegally over Memorial Day weekend. In my view, these numbers are staggering and genuinely reflect the success and impact this campaign has made.”
The We Check for 21 campaign also includes road signs, flyers and media commercials that explain to minors what can happen if they are caught drinking underage.
The program participants heard from three experts — David Bregenzer, counsel to the director of the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) discussed underage drinking initiatives; Joseph Vasil, of the Motor Vehicle Commission’s document fraud unit gave fake state identification training; and Raymond DeVoe, of the U.S. State Department passport agency, gave passport identification training.
Bregenzer noted the ramifications for employees who sell alcohol to minors as well as the ramifications for the minors.
Underage drinkers also lose their driving privileges. He said both offenses are disorderly persons offenses that come with fines and arrest records for those involved.
For a licensed establishment, there are suspensions for 15 days for the first offense, 30 for the second, 45 for the third and loss of licenses for the fourth.
“Checking IDs can keep everyone out of trouble,” he said.
Vasil said state drivers’ licenses are the “most trusted form of identification in the United States.”
He said that knowing what every license in the country looks like could be a daunting task.
“There are over 260 styles of drivers licenses in the 50 states,” Vasil said. “Counting non-drivers licenses, there are over 400.”
But in order to know what a fake one looks like, employees have to know what the real ones look like.
He said New Jersey’s license has over 20 security features including holograms and blacklight features. Most states have similar types — 47 with holograms and 43 have blacklight features, he said.
Vasil said bartenders, doormen and clerks should make sure the person presenting the ID is the same one pictured in the ID. He also suggested asking certain questions of the presenter to make sure they’re no an imposter.
In the end, Vasil told the alcohol service workers in attendance that the state can’t expect them all to be forensic document analysts.
“But if you make an effort and do everything we ask you to do, there’s a good chance you’re not going to get jammed up,” he said.
The program is sponsored by the county Municipal Alliances for the Prevention of Substance Abuse in cooperation with the Freeholders and also receives partial funding from a grant from the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
Others involved in this effort include Cape Assist, the county Licensed Beverage Association, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and the Cape May County Chiefs of Police Association.
Thornton thanked local mayors, governing bodies, the county sheriff and prosecutor as well as local law enforcement agencies for supporting the program.
U.S. Marshal Jim Plousis, who also attended the event, said the efforts of those involved in this program make Cape May County and New Jersey safer. Plousis started the program 18 years ago when he was this county’s sheriff.
“The success of this program is a reflection on the people who run it,” Plousis said.
“Only in Cape May does the county get so involved, which cuts down tremendously on violations,” Bregenzer said. “This is by far the best We Check for 21 program in the state.”