Police target unlicensed bar bouncers - Canada

[WtD_Oracle]

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/Local/article/578459

Police reminded local bar owners this fall that more than liquor licenses are needed to run their watering holes.

Guelph Police Service revealed Monday it and members of the investigation and enforcement unit of the private security and investigative services branch of the OPP executed Project Red Tiger on Sept. 18 and found four businesses were in violation of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act (PSISA).

The PSISA requires security industry workers, including security guards, private investigators, bodyguards, bouncers and loss prevention personnel, to be licensed under the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Under the act, any business entity, including bars, that employs its own in-house security personnel, but is not in the business of selling security services, is required to register with the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch.

During the sweep officers checked eight bars throughout the city. Four businesses were found in violation of the PSISA.

Van Gogh’s Ear, Frank & Steins, the Manor and Vinyl/Jimmy Jazz were all charged with employing unlicensed security guards.

On Dec. 2, representatives from Van Gogh’s Ear, Vinyl/Jimmy Jazz and Frank & Steins appeared in Guelph Provincial Court, pleaded guilty to the charges and each received a $305.00 fine. They have 30 days to pay the fine.

The Manor charge was put over to Jan. 20.

Calls and emails to owners and managers of all four establishments were not returned Monday.

Officers conducted followup bar checks at 10 locations in the downtown core Nov. 26. They found 33 of 36 security guards checked were found to be in compliance with the PSISA.

Two security guards from Apartment 58 and one from Frank & Steins were charged with working as an unlicensed security guard.

“We’re glad to see we found so many in compliance,” Guelph Police Service communications officer Sgt. Doug Pflug said. “It’s nice to see a huge buy-in and compliance with the act.”

During the followup, Frank & Steins and Apartment 58 were also charged with failing to register their business under the PSISA.

The PSISA came into force as law Aug. 23, 2007. Under the act, bouncers must apply for a security guard license, which requires the individual be 18 years old, consent to a background check and provide employment history, a passport photo and the signature of a guarantor. The applicant must also pay $80 per year for his or her licence.

And any business that employs in-house security must pay an annual $80 registration fee.

A spokesperson for the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch could not be reached for comment. But the ministry’s website says act helps “professionalize the security industry, increase public safety and ensure that practitioners received proper training and are qualified to provide protective services.”

However, no training is required in order to apply for the licence.

“At the end of the day, we hope projects like this ensure public safety,” Pflug said. “We have a lot of people coming downtown each weekend and we want their safety to be there.”

The collaborative effort came to be at the request of the OPP’s private security and investigative services branch.

“We’re going to continue working with that group. And based on their availability, we’ll bring them in again,” Pflug said.

According to the ministry’s website, there are more than 64,000 licensed security guards and private investigators in Ontario and approximately 520 licensed agencies in the province providing security guard and private investigation services.

Pflug said there is one establishment in Guelph that elects to use paid, off-duty police officers as well as in-house security.

“It’s nice to see the establishment take the extra step in safety,” he said.

[Gepard]

£150 for 3 years and no training. Oooo I like the sound of that...