Passing the empty Kollege Klub building, one may be reminded of the force that shut down the bar for the next two weeks: fake IDs.

According to KK owner Bruce Meier, high-quality fake IDs slipped past the bouncers and ultimately put the bar temporarily out of business.

“The real problem here isn’t being addressed,” Meier said in December. “The IDs students are turning in to the cops aren’t the ones they’re showing to the bouncers. They’re keeping the good ones and giving the cops the throw-aways.”

Several students who own fakes said it was easy to obtain them. One sophomore student ordered hers from a high school friend with high-tech equipment to make IDs, and a sophomore engineering student said she found hers on the ground.

“It’s split 50/50 between people who buy fakes and who get an old ID from their friends,” she said. She is 19 years old, 5’6″ and 125 pounds, but her ID shows a 5’4″ 22-year-old woman weighing 160 pounds.

“I don’t look at the bouncers when I’m in line, and sometimes I try hitting on them,” she said.

Bartender Brian Minor said there are ways to determine if an ID is fake aside from looking at the picture and birth date.

“You look for anything that sends off a red flag,” he said. “Any tears in the lamination or scratches around the date, and there are codes within the license you can look for.”

The Wisconsin Driver’s License number is constructed for identification purposes, with numbers encoding the date and year of birth, as well as a blueprint for the individual’s name.

Bartender Ryan Lawless said he looks for an ID’s holograms and letters for a quick determination of validity.

“A lot of dumb people try to manipulate the letters on the ID, and it’s pretty obvious,” Lawless said. “But mostly people try to pass off as someone else.”

Michael Reardon, manager of Spices, said his bouncers turn away about 25 people with fake IDs per night.

“In certain situations, it can be almost impossible to tell if they’re faked, but it’s really a matter of attitude and trusting your bouncers,” he said. “And if it’s a New Jersey license — it’s faked,” he joked.

A UW business sophomore student with an undecided major (and a New Jersey fake ID) said she only goes to bars she knows she can get into.

“I go to the bars because house parties are too cramped,” she said.

A sophomore engineering student said she felt pressured into using a fake ID.

“I go there because otherwise all my friends go out and leave me here alone,” she said, adding that she does not worry about the risk of getting caught.

“Chances are, it would just get taken away, so I’m not too concerned; it’s not even a good fake,” she said.

Sgt. Emil Quast said in April that the police force is very reasonable when it comes to law enforcement and drinking.

“Our biggest problem with bars is the management, not the kids,” he said.

Quast said the police force does not spend time checking for underage drinkers and only confronts serious safety concerns.

“We don’t have a zero-tolerance policy, but we will go after the bars if they are not doing a reasonable, responsible job,” he said.

Quast said police officers do not concentrate on checking for fake IDs but will not look the other way when they see blatantly young people in a bar.

“We will hold bars accountable,” Quast said.

“The bouncers may argue that the ID was really good, but how hard is it for someone to ask for a second form of ID?” he said.

Angelic Brewing Company manager Otto Dilba said the Kollege Klub owner should take responsibility for his bouncers and their decisions at the door.

“Fakes are not going to go away,” he said.