After recent underage-drinking busts at the Orpheum Theatre and Madhatters, rumors are flying about a possible crackdown on fake IDs and underage drinking by the Madison Police Department.
However, Sgt. Emil Quast of the Madison Police Department said it is business as usual for the police.
“Although it is not our highest priority, we are and always have been very serious about underage drinking,” Quast said. “There is no crackdown. If we have extra officers, we will assign them to do bar checks.”
Officers are also assigned to write at least one ticket to every underage drinker they encounter, Quast said.
When asked whether police target specific establishments for underage-patron searches, he explained that those bars with a history of irresponsibly checking IDs are targeted first.
With a reputation for its well-trained staff, State Street Brats has never had any serious problems with random bar-checks for underage patrons.
“We take it very seriously,” owner Kelly Moyer said. “We do the best we can, and that is all the police department expects.”
Moyer said that since the closing of the Kollege Klub the police have been making an increased effort to seek out underage drinkers.
The police ticketed four underage drinkers at Madhatters last Thursday, but a few underage drinkers were able to sneak by.
“First we went to the bathroom,” said a University of Wisconsin sophomore who declined to be identified. “After they chased down the first two girls I decided to just chill.”
After the first two girls were ticketed, two other underage drinkers tried to escape through a kitchen door, forcing officers to chase them down.
“I was really scared,” the sophomore said. “I think I am going to stay away from the bars from now on.”
During last Friday’s bust at the Orpheum Theatre, one UW freshman was not so lucky.
“I was sitting with eight girls when we saw the cops walk in. Fleeing is the fist sign of guilt, so I decided to just play it cool,” said the student, who also declined to be identified. Playing it cool proved ineffective for this student, and she was ticketed with forging a government document and for being underage in a bar.
“I was very cooperative. I tried to laugh it off, but the cops didn’t think it was very funny,” she said. “When I made a joke they threatened to ticket me with something else.
“We’re not children,” the student continued. “I don’t understand why they needed to be so rude.”
According to Quast, the best thing to do if caught in a bar while underage is to be completely cooperative with the police. Underagers who try to conceal their identities are taken into the station until police can figure out who they really are. After having to go through all this trouble, the police can issues tickets for obstructing justice, Quast said.
