Robert C. Smith of Nightlife Security Consultants discusses the proper (and reasonable) method of making sure that all of your guests are of age.
(NOTE: This story was written by Robert C. Smith and appears in the July issue of ED Magazine.)
In my 27 years of consulting, I’ve been lucky enough to have worked with over 5,000 clubs, bars, restaurants and other liquor-licensed businesses. I’ve met some fantastic operators, and some — well, not so fantastic. However, when working with great operators or not-so-great operators, one of the most rewarding parts of my work is sharing insights they hadn’t considered, especially when it comes to preventing violations involving underage individuals entering or being present in their venue.
This point of law is not a secret; it cuts through all states, but it’s not always known or explained to operators. Before I go any further, let me be clear: I’m not an attorney. If you have any doubts or concerns, I strongly encourage you to consult your legal team. Here you go…
Every type of liquor-licensed business operator is worried — sometimes terrified — about the random 20-year-old who uses a sophisticated internet fake identification and gets past their door host, enters the club and orders a drink —only to be caught later that night by law enforcement or a beverage control agent. YIKES!
I guarantee that everyone reading this has had this concern in the last month or two. I only wish that when managers and owners start worrying, and before they allow their fear to run amok, they send me a text, an email or a call. If they would, I’d take some time to explain the term “reasonable” as it applies to the rules for issuing citations or violations to their club or bar.
You see, there are very clear rules about issuing criminal citations or administrative violations to a club or bar for having a minor on the premises. Yes, these are real, written and clear rules. These rules are strongly connected to the club and its employees, acting “reasonable” in their attempts to stop any underage person from entering the club.
To further help you understand what I’m slowly laying out for you, you must accept, with 100% certainty, that state officials know that the internet fake identification that is being used is a near-perfect duplicate of real state-issued identification. They also know that young people will borrow another person’s identification and then make themselves resemble that person.
There are very clear rules about issuing criminal citations or admin violations to a club or bar for having a minor on the premises. These rules are strongly connected to the club and its employees, acting ‘reasonable’ in their attempts to stop any underage person from entering the club.
— Robert C. Smith
Because officials recognize how accurate these fake IDs are, most legal language states something along the lines of: “If a minor is found in your club, the police or the state agency must prove you did not act reasonably when you allowed the minor to enter.”
Here is the list I give all my clients, and now you, on how to create a “reasonable” defense when preventing minors from entering their club.
- If you have a door host that is truly screening identification, holding it, examining it, finding the security features and verifying the date of birth, that is a reasonable action to take to stop underage persons.
- If you or a third-party company has given the door host training on how to recognize and find fake or borrowed identification, that is a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If you have written policies and procedures that outline a strong stance and process to stop fake or borrowed identification, that is a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If you have any sort of Identification Checking Guide Booklet that a door host can use, that is a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If you have provided the door host with the necessary equipment (flashlight, UV light, etc.) to help identify the security features, fonts, microprinting and holograms, that is a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If the club keeps a record when a door host catches an underage person using a fake or borrowed identification, that’s a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If the club has a policy to confiscate the fake or borrowed identification and turn them over to local or state law enforcement, that’s a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
- If, on occasion, the club asks local or state law enforcement to help teach their hosts and team about fake and borrowed identification, that’s a reasonable action to take to stop an underage person.
There you go. What I just listed might seem like a simple list, but ask yourself, “Am I doing these things every night I’m open? Am I, really?” Because if you are doing these things religiously, then you have automatically created a defense to any criminal citation or administrative violation that may come.
Remember what I said earlier: “If a minor is found in your club, the police or the state agency must prove you did not act reasonably when you allowed the minor to enter.”
If you are following my suggested list, you are absolutely acting “reasonable” and doing what you reasonably could to stop any minors from entering your club.
That’s about it. Please read that list again and start doing as many as you can today, tonight. Within a week, push yourself and your team to be doing all of them; it’s a habit for
Robert C. Smith is the President and CEO of Nightlife Security Consultants (NSC), Inc. His company has trained over 10,000 hospitality employees and worked with over 1,500 alcohol service venues nationwide. The unique training created and offered by NSC covers the topics such as conflict resolution, legal use of force, premise liability, recognition of bad ID, active shooter awareness and more. Based on his successful training solutions, Smith has been called upon to provide expert guidance for attorneys, insurance companies, law enforcement officials and industry trade associations surrounding areas of liquor and premise liability. For more information, visit www.nightlifesecurity.com or email rsmith@nightlifesecurity.com.
