KEY POINTS:
Dunedin police say false identification cards are being replaced as quickly as they are confiscated as a rash of young people try to gain illegal entry to licensed premises in the city.
Their concerns about the number of false IDs being used come as two Dunedin hotels the Rugby and the Captain Cook prepare to serve 24-hour liquor licence suspensions for serving minors.
Police district liquor licensing Sergeant Wayne Pitcaithly yesterday said security staff were fighting a losing battle trying to take false identification out of circulation.
Dunedin hotel staff confiscated up to 30 forms of identification mainly driver licences or 18+ cards each week from young people who presented them as false identification or, less often, manufactured them.
In response, police will target the supply of liquor to minors in the city.
Staff visiting hotels and bars would be instructed to check the age of patrons, forms of identification, and monitor intoxication levels, Sgt Pitcaithly said.
Police would also continue covert buying operations at offlicences.
Most forms of identification confiscated were driver's licences, in particular restricted or learner licences belonging to people who had graduated to the next stage.
People generally did not "hang around to give their names" once an ID card was confiscated, but if caught, could face a fine under the Sale of Liquor Act of up to $1000 for presenting false identification.
Those who manufactured a false driver's licence could face a fine of up to $2000, Sgt Pitcaithly said.
Under the Land Transport Act 1998, the holder of a driver's licence must, if that licence is superseded by another driver's licence, surrender the original licence to either Land Transport New Zealand, any of its agents, or the police.
The problem of under-age drinkers using false identification was a perennial one, but an issue Dunedin hotels generally dealt with well, he said.
The Liquor Licensing Authority last month suspended the licenses of two Dunedin hotels caught serving minors.
The Rugby Hotel, in Carroll St, will be closed between 11am tomorrow and 11am on Sunday after minors were served during a routine police check there in August. The Captain Cook Hotel, in Albany St, will close from 9am on Tuesday to 9am on Wednesday after police inquiries revealed an under-age youth involved in an assault outside the premises had been served there before the incident.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
