Charleston launches ID verification program to catch underage drinkers

The city of Charleston on Wednesday launched a permanent ID verification program to try to eliminate underage drinking. The decision follows a six-month pilot program that tested a verification tool in 30 downtown bars and restaurants.

The program is in partnership with Intellicheck, an New-York-based identity validation company that provides cutting-edge verification technology used by law enforcement agencies across North America. Its app enables mobile devices and point-of-scale scanners to authenticate IDs in less than a second, which means bouncers can more readily prevent underage people from getting access to bars with a fake ID.

“As this pilot program clearly demonstrates, stopping underage drinking makes King Street, and our whole city, safer,” Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg said in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming many more local businesses to the Intellicheck program and continuing to work together to protect our residents and visitors alike.”

The trial period began Dec. 5, 2022. The city of Charleston and destination marketing nonprofit Explore Charleston each contributed $20,000 to fund the program with Intellicheck, which provided its ID verification technology at a reduced cost.

Scans identified 3,400 invalid IDs since December

Throughout the six-month trial, Intellicheck’s app was used to perform more than 100,000 ID scans that identified about 3,400 fake or invalid IDs, according to a press release. The app, currently in use by the Charleston Police Department and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, was proven to be more than 99% accurate in authenticating IDs in under 1 second, the press release said.

“We are very proud of the results of our efforts working with the city of Charleston, Explore Charleston, area law enforcement agencies and King Street area businesses to help prevent underage drinking,” Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis said in a statement. “High-tech fake IDs are readily and inexpensively available to young people on the web. Unfortunately, young people don’t recognize the dangerous situation they create for themselves and others when they use those sophisticated fake IDs to access alcohol and other age-restricted products. This is only the beginning as we look forward to working with businesses throughout the city of Charleston.”

With the launch of the city’s new, permanent partnership with Intellicheck, businesses located within city limits are invited to take advantage of the ID scanning technology, which includes five mobile app licenses to be used by employees. Business owners and employees can download the app online at intellicheck.com.