ID Checker purchased after License Suspended for Underage Alcohol Sales

ID Checker purchased after a liquor license suspension.

Most merchants wait to purchase an ID Checker until they get a ticket or the store next to them does.  Unfortunately, this behaviour is like buying a fire extinguisher after having a fire.  Merchants don't realize the risks they face by not having an ID Scanner with Age Verification software.  These machines automate and document the ID Checking process.  They wait until an event to invest.  Don't wait for a ticket to invest.

 

June 17, 2011

Written By: Staff Writer, Travis Brown

SNOW HILL -- The sale of alcohol to minors recently cost several Worcester County businesses a combined total of $7,250 in fines. Additionally, one business will have its license suspended for 30 days during the busiest time of the year.

While the fines were distributed between five businesses, the store hit hardest by the Worcester County Board of License Commissioners (BLC) Wednesday was the Shop Kwik located in the Food Lion Shopping Center in Berlin. The store appeared before the BLC on two separate sale to a minor charges, incidents which occurred this spring a little more than 30 days apart.

The first violation involved a new cashier and a can of Four Loko. A Worcester County Sheriff’s Office attempted to purchase a can of the popular and colorful alcoholic beverage Four Loko. The cashier, Shailesh Patel, was eight hours into his first day working at the store and had lived in the United States less than a year. Attorney Paul Ewell asserted that those were the reasons Shailesh Patel made the sale without first checking the 18 year-old cadet’s driver’s license.

“This young man was confused when he saw it [the Four Loko],” said Ewell. “He didn’t realize what he was doing.”

According to Ewell, the Four Loko can looks deceptively like most non-alcoholic energy drinks. While the can has several markings displaying that it is indeed an alcoholic beverage, Ewell said that Shailesh Patel’s relative newness to America made it easy for him to miss the signs. To further illustrate his point, Ewell entered a can of Four Loko into evidence, though Sheriff’s Deputy Jennifer Hall, who wrote the original incident report, informed the BLC that Ewell had brought the wrong color can. However, he stood by his point, asserting that most anyone could get mixed up with the drink.

Ewell also argued that the cadet had “hurried” out of the store when one of Shailesh Patel’s co-workers spotted his mistake and came over to card the cadet. Hall refuted the claim, promising the BLC that her cadet had exited the store at the same regular pace she always did, and that no one on the premises attempted to halt her or card her at any time.

“She did not rush out of the store … she would have stopped [if asked],” said Hall.

The second incident, which took place just over a month later, involved owner Vinod Patel, who sold beer to a different underage cadet. In this case, Ewell asserted that Vinod Patel was distracted by a request for help from one of the gas pumps. Vinod Patel then claims he mixed up the cut-off date for tobacco with that of alcohol.

Since both violations last spring, Vinod Patel has made changes to his operation, according to Ewell. He’s created a database of all alcoholic drinks in his store so a Four Loko mix-up won’t happen again. He also has a new ID scanner which alerts the clerk if the driver’s license scanned is under 21. With what he hoped were mitigating circumstances and with the improvements Vinod Patel has made to his system, Ewell requested that the BLC not hit his client with a license suspension, only a fine.

“A suspension this time of year would create a hardship…it could lead to one or more persons losing their job,” he said.

Despite the case Ewell presented, the BLC still felt a suspension was needed. Much of the justification came from the fact that Vindol Patel had three previous violations on his license over the last 16 years while working at a different location. Though he only claimed two, BLC records showed him connected to the third violation on the day before he moved his license. Between those three violations there were $4,500 worth of fines and 45 days of suspension, total.

With everything considered, the BLC levied a $2,000 fine for the first violation and another $2,000 fine for the second. They also issued a 30-day license suspension effective Thursday at 8 a.m. Ewell requested that the suspension at least by held until after Labor Day to allow his client to take advantage of summer business.

“I have to look you in the eye,” said BLC President William Esham. “We’ve never done that.”

The BLC denied the request to hold the suspension, and warned Vinod Patel to make the necessary changes to his operation, as he now has accumulated five violations in a little over 15 years.

While the Shop Kwik caused the biggest splash during the meeting, four other businesses also were fined with illegal sales to minors. Town Market Basket in Snow Hill escaped in the best shape with only a $250 fine. Both the 7-Eleven on Philadelphia Ave in Ocean City and the Super Soda Center in Snow Hill were fined $1,000 for violations.

Newark Station, much like the Shop Kwik, had to answer for two violations, this time both within the same month. However, the license lacked the history of violations that had contributed to the harsh penalties against Vindol Patel. Newark Station paid $1,000 total in fines, $250 for the first incident and $750 for the second.

http://www.mdcoastdispatch.com/articles/2011/06/17/Top-Stories/Area-Store-Lic...

ID Scanner at 2011 Atlantic City Beer Festival

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Tokenworks® Provides ID Scanners for Estimated 20,000 Attendees at ‘Celebration of the Suds’ Beer Festival.

Bronxville, NY – March 23, 2011 – Tokenworks® Inc. will provide ID scanners for the 2011 Atlantic City Beer Festival taking place at Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 1 and 2, 2011. Tokenworks card readers will be used at all event entrances to quickly verify and document the age of all event attendees. The ID readers boast a technologically advanced, handheld, portable and rugged design that makes them ideal for large conferences where rapid ID checking is needed in multiple locations.

Attendees to the event must be 21 years old with valid ID to attend. ID card scanners comprise a vital part of Beer Festival’s security program. Atlantic City Beer Festival Planner Anthony “Bert” Bertino says of Tokenworks, “Your ID checkers allow us to capture vital information concerning clients who are attending the event. The ID checkers are part of an aggressive identification verification process, to insure that no under-age patrons are admitted to the event.” Accurately verifying age is a legal necessity for any operation or business that sells age-regulated products. With the proliferation of underage drinking and fake IDs, advanced ID scanning technology is necessary to protect the safety of patrons and businesses. “It only takes one yahoo,” ID scanner specialist and security expert specialist Luke Weinstein states, “to cause an accident or to cause a business to jeopardize its liquor license.”

Tokenworks provides robust and flexible ID checker solutions for many large events and has provided ID readers for the Atlantic City Beer Festival since 2009. “This is the third year for us utilizing these scanners, which allow us to quickly ID check and capture 20,000 customers for the event,” states Mr. Bertino. Tokenworks President Charles Cagliostro commented, “We are excited to provide ID readers to the ‘Celebration of the Suds’ event. Our IDVisor Z22 Mobile unit's fast throughput, long lasting battery, rugged design and large memory capacity make it perfect for large events or organizations. We have best price/performance ID scanner, bar none.”

A Drivers license scanner enables event staff to quickly check the age of each attendee before they are allowed to visit the show floor. An event staff person swipes or dips an ID card through the ID reader, and the attendee’s age is instantly displayed on the screen. The card scanners are easy to use and allow event managers to rest assured that staff is properly checking each ID. Mr. Bertino praises the foolproof operation of the scanners: “The ease of use, by employees who are unaware of this type of technology, solves a major training issue.”

Tokenworks ID readers are widely used at convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, and nightclubs across the United States and Canada. Their handheld ID checkers can read drivers’ licenses from all US States and Canadian provinces, as well as military IDs and state ID cards. The company’s reputation for reliable, simple operation and durable hardware has made them the leading provider of ID card reading solutions throughout the United States.

About Celebration of Suds

The Atlantic City Beer Festival, better known as the ‘Celebration of the Suds,’ will showcase 750 beers from over 90 individual breweries, including Dog Fish Head, Brooklyn Brewery and Magic Hat. The festival has quickly grown throughout its six-year history to become Atlantic City’s most anticipated event. The ‘Celebration of the Suds’ is expected to attract 20,000 attendees over a two-day period. Approximately 1,500 vendors will offer great food and retail items, and live music and guest speakers will provide a thrilling experience for event attendees. The festival aims to bring together beer lovers of all kinds, from aficionados to casual drinkers, to meet with brewers and discover new brews. Learn more about the beer festival at http://www.celebrationofthesuds.com.

About Tokenworks

Founded in 1998, Tokenworks provides a full-range of magnetic stripe and barcode ID card scanners for age verification and lead capture. Tokenworks is located in Bronxville, New York and sells across the United States and Canada. Visit http://www.idscanner.com to learn more or buy online. 1-800-574-5034 / sales@tokenworks.com

Fake ID Scanner - Believe it or not!

Does an ID Scanner stop fradulent drivers licenses?  Its not a simple answer.  Here are the conditions that an ID Scanner will catch a fake.

Some fakes have a barcode but the name in the barcode does not match the name printed on the front.  The better ID Scanners will display the name and if the operator notices that the name on the ID Scanner screen does not match that printed on the license, a fake will be detected.

Some fakes have unreadable barcodes.  This is because the barcode is streched / cutoff / shrunk and is there just to fool a human.  But if the machine can't read it, then its likely to be a fake.  This is because barcodes are very readable and to demonstrate, NY punches a 1/4" hole in the barcode of the drivers license when its expired.  Barcode readers can still read this barcode because there is redundant data in the barcode.  So if the barcode can't be read, its very likely a fake.

Some fakes, when scanned will not have a recognized data format.  So the scanner will say something like unrecognized format. 

Some fakes have altered printed data.  Using ink or by punching small holes, the date of birth or expiration text will be modified so that a eight will look like a three.  The Drivers License Scanner will read the correct information and warn expired or underage.

But there are fake IDs that will scan through an ID Scanner.  Its like Fake $20 bills.  They range in quality and the same is true of fake IDs. So don't believe any company that claims they can stop fake IDs.  They should claim they will stop SOME fake IDs but it depends on who is making the fakes.

 

ID Scanner installed after incident at Temple Night Club in San Francisco

Tragic Incident at Club in San Francisco leads to security measures including installation of ID Checker

From Bay City News - http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/01/man-killed-at-temple-nightclub-donates-organ...

A University of California at San Francisco medical student who was killed at a South of Market nightclub earlier this month has saved lives as an organ donor, San Francisco General Hospital officials said today.

Joe Hernandez, 30, was found unconscious on the floor of the Temple nightclub on Howard Street early the morning of Jan. 9.

He had apparently been hit in the head with an object. Doctors were unable to save him, and he was put on life support for several days until his organs could be donated.

Hernandez had made clear to his family that he would be willing to be an organ donor, hospital officials said.

"Joe was very healthy and wanted to save lives even in death. It was something that was important to him," his family said in a statement released by the hospital today.

Hernandez, a fourth-year medical student at UCSF, had recently trained at San Francisco General Hospital.

The family requested that the specific details of the organ donations be kept private but were glad to be able to raise awareness about the importance of being a donor, hospital spokeswoman Rachael Kagan said.

Last year, 10 San Francisco General patients donated a total of 48 organs, hospital officials said.

Cathy Olmo, manager of community development at the California Transplant Donor Network, said one organ donor can save up to eight lives.

"Some people in need have been waiting for years; unfortunately some cannot survive a long wait," she said. "For each of them, donation means another chance at life."

No arrests have been made in Hernandez's murder, police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza said today.

Another man, age 26, suffered minor injuries in the same fight in which Hernandez was killed, police said.

About 20 minutes after that fight, a second fight broke out outside the club in which two men were stabbed with broken bottles. Both survived their injuries.

Since then, the club has added security measures including more security cameras and the installation of ID scanners.

The club has also been banned from serving bottled beer on Friday and Saturday nights, and is required to administer pat-downs on all patrons entering the venue, said Jocelyn Kane, executive director of the Entertainment Commission.

ID Checker Blog Sites

Check out ID Scanner Blog and Drivers License Scanners and PDA Ground for some interesting posts on ID Checkers.