After a letter was sent from the mayor's office to local bar owners about controversial ID policies, city officials and police instructed bar owners and employees on bar admittance rules and management at an annual tavern safety meeting Monday.
Many downtown bars previously required patrons to provide a valid driver's license or passport to enter, but after racial discrimination concerns, they repealed the policy.
Those policies came under fire when research showed that African American and Latin patrons were much less likely to possess either form of ID, according to Melissa Gombar from the Madison Department of Civil Rights, Equal Opportunities Division.
City Alcohol Policy Coordinator Mark Woulf said in a letter to local bar owners that former bar policies requiring patrons to present a state driver's license or passport violated both the Madison equal opportunity act and state law.
"According to state statutes, an official identification card is not limited to a valid driver's license or passport," Woulf said in the letter. "We strongly suggest considering the ramifications some admittance policies may carry."
Gombar suggested bars continue to accept traditional forms of ID, such as a state-issued ID, in order to avoid discriminating against any ethnic minorities and disabled patrons who may not have a driver's license.
When asked about front-door employees' right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, she said a venue which tended to refuse service to any particular individual would be investigated.
"We're impartial, we're fact finding, and we don't take sides," Gombar said.
Also at the meeting, Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Zilavy focused on legal issues and the responsibilities of venue employees, while Madison Police Department Sgt. Tony Fiore addressed how to deal with ID issues and aggressive patrons.
