Suspected drunk-drivers are being quizzed by New Jersey police about where they had their last drink as part of an effort to identify bars that may be habitually overserving customers, the New York Times reported Dec. 30.

The "last drink" initiative, instituted by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, gathers information from police officers in a statewide database; regulators then use the information to better target investigations by state alcohol inspectors.

"This kind of intelligence really enhances our efforts and lets us target bars that are problem spots," said state ABC director Jerry Fischer. "In the long term, we hope that targeting will lead to the elimination of those places that are not sensitive and responsible to their legal and moral obligation to dispense alcohol responsibly."

Establishments can be fined or have their liquor licenses suspended if investigators find that bartenders are serving alcohol to visibly intoxicated customers. The state ABC agency has gathered about 1,400 "last drink" reports over the last four months, leading to three major investigations.

Some bar and restaurant owners see problems with the system, however. "I understand why they are doing it, but I think the way they are doing it is flawed, and it will unfairly target any place that does a larger volume of business as compared to a smaller place," said Thomas Jannarone, part owner of Bar Anticipation, a Monmouth County nightclub. "Quite often it's the smaller places that break the rules because economically they have to."

Also, he added, "A person could appear to be dead sober in a bar and leave the bar, and by the time they get pulled over their blood alcohol level could be above the legal limit."

Lewis B. Rothbart, executive director of the New Jersey Licensed Beverage Association, said some drunk drivers may falsely implicate bars that have thrown them out in the past.