Ever wonder where those complaints about problem bars go?

The answer is they land on the doorstep of William Latorre's office.

Latorre is a sergeant with the Pennsylvania State Police and works for the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement.

In Pennsylvania, commercial liquor licenses are awarded by the Liquor Control Board, while enforcement of liquor laws is handled by state police.

Manayunk is known for being a bar-heavy neighborhood - a reputation Latorre is quite familiar with.

But while some residents complain that Manayunk seems overrun with establishments serving alcohol and the problems that come with such saturation, Latorre said the minimal complaints his office receives do not reflect that assertion.

"If there are a lot of complaints in Manayunk with respect to bars, they're not making their way to (my) office," Latorre said. "Not to the point if you ask me, 'is Manayunk a problem?' No."

He said the majority of complaints stemming from the area are due to noise - not underage drinking or bars that serve what the agency deems "visibly intoxicated persons."

But there are some issues that make Latorre's job difficult. For instance, if a bar patron is over-served, it could be hard to prove this was done consciously. The example he gave concerns situations where other patrons buy drinks for a visibly intoxicated person, or VIP. In such instances, the bartender isn't always sure where the drink was going.

Because of this, Latorre said the real focus should be on educating bar staff - making sure those serving drinks are paying more attention to customers, even if it is a busy night.

"The idea is to get these owners to get their staff trained . . . so that they slow down and start looking at (people)," Latorre said.

Latorre's office also deals with house parties charging for admittance when alcohol is served. Technically, this is illegal, although he admits it is done quite frequently, especially with college students.

"It seems when there are events, we will get complaints in advance with regard to house parties," Latorre said. "They do occur, places that are opening up their homes to sell alcohol without a license."

Many, but not all, liquor licenses in the community are known as "R" licenses, or restaurant licenses, which enable operators to sell alcohol between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m. Everyone, including employees, have to be off the premises by 2:30 a.m.

There is such a thing as an extended-hours food license, which allows places that serve alcohol to be open past 2 a.m. - but only to sell food.

"In essence, every restaurant/bar goes back to being just a restaurant at two in the morning," Latorre said.

Latorre said officers have responded to local calls of bars operating past 2 a.m. Most often, these are places with the extended license, and no actions needed to be taken.

But there are other regulations in place that govern the operation of many bars in the neighborhood. There are rules for how bars can advertise drink specials, and there are rules stating how long on open bar car be offered.

Then there are the outdoor events. Places that serve alcohol can hold such promotions, but often, management will just go through the city when it comes to applying for a permit. Technically, they also have to inform Latorre's office. If not, they could face citations.

In the case of bars that over-serve patrons, Latorre's office can impose criminal or civil penalties. He said there are not than many complaints of this nature in Manayunk. His office also does not receive many complaints about after-hours operations.

"If there were a bar that decided to continue to serve alcohol past 2 a.m., we would go in and arrest the bartenders and the owner," Latorre said.

Latorre said officers can take those who serve underage patrons into custody in addition to the owner and management.

Latorre's office also reviews complaints for what is known as "refilling." He calls this "theft by deception." This involves a bar refilling a liquor bottle with a cheaper brand of the same liquor. There are two cases he currently is looking into in Manayunk where bars have refilled premium vodka bottles with the cheap stuff.

The cases are fairly easy to prove, he said, simply by looking over invoices. If paperwork shows a bar sold 200 bottles of Grey Goose vodka, for example, but their receipts show the bar purchased 180 bottles of cheaper vodka from the state, and 20 bottles of Grey Goose, it's easy to see what's going on.

"It's pretty obvious," Latorre said. "There's a paper trail."

Unfortunately, Latorre said, many businesses "trash the paperwork," since the fine is less for having poorly kept records than for the actual "theft by deception" charge.

Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com