DMV launches summer crackdown on fake IDs at Jones Beach, other state concert venues

If you’re headed to a concert this summer at Jones Beach, don’t even think about using a fake ID to buy alcohol.

That’s the message Wednesday from officials at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which announced a summerlong law enforcement campaign dubbed “Operation Prevent” in an effort to crack down on the use of fake IDs at statewide concert venues — and also to cut down on drinking and driving, the DMV said.

The campaign, which will run through Sept. 17, will use 28 “underage drinking enforcement details” comprising state police, state park police, investigators from the State Liquor Authority and other local law enforcement agencies to curb the use of fake IDs — including driver's licenses and nondriver IDs — at venues including Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, CMAC in Canandaigua and the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse, among others.

Officials said those under age 21 found to be using fake IDs — or someone else’s ID — to illegally purchase alcohol can be ticketed and have their licenses suspended or revoked for a minimum of 90 days up to one year.  Last year, the DMV said 550 people received tickets statewide during the seasonal crackdown on using fake IDs to purchase alcohol, while a total of 580 fake documents were seized. There were 505 tickets issued for attempting to use fake IDs, with another 46 tickets for violations of the Alcohol Beverage and Control Law.

Statistics were not immediately available for Jones Beach Theater.

“Our investigators are well-trained to spot fake IDs, and we have added security measures that make our licenses and non-driver IDs increasingly difficult to counterfeit,” DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder said in a statement Wednesday.

Schroeder, who also is chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, added: “You may think we’re trying to spoil your fun, but it is not fun to end up in a hospital, a jail or a morgue from a night spent drinking when you’re underage.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”