Police Authority helps fund Identity Card Scheme in Shrewsbury
A new identity card scheme set up in Shrewsbury to prevent underage youngsters obtaining alcohol in pubs and clubs, has received financial backing from the West Mercia Police Authority.
The scheme, established by the town centre’s Local Policing Officer PC David Walton and approved by the Home Office, was adopted by members of Shrewsbury Pubwatch last autumn.
They agreed to accept PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) approved ID cards as a recognised form of identity.
PC Walton together with the scheme’s manager Richard Goodchild, successfully applied to the Police Authority’s community initiatives fund for a small donation to cover the cost of printing 1,000 Safer Shrewsbury Pubwatch document seizure forms for use by licensed premises in the town.
“The form provides an audit trail for seized documents used fraudulently by young people seeking entry to member premises,” said PC Walton. “It ensures the venues comply with recently produced Home Office guidance when seizing ID documents.”
PC Walton praised Shrewsbury Pubwatch members for maintaining a robust banning policy and misuse of ID strategy. “The group’s efforts to reduce underage drinking in Shrewsbury’s licensed premises have been extolled on a national level with the Home Office and have attracted interest from other areas of the country and the licensed trade.”
He added: “As a word of warning, anyone in future allowing their documents such as passport or driving licence to be used fraudulently by an underage person, will not have them returned by the police.
“In the past, we have always returned them, but from now on this will not happen. Any identity documents seized and handed to the police will in future be sent to the office of issue, namely the Passport Office, the DVLA or PASS.”
