Source: desmoinesregister
A law intended to require training for Polk County bouncers has resulted in training for only a fraction of the people doing that work in nightclubs.
Fewer than 100 people have been trained, even though the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division identified about 1,300 establishments that could fall under the training requirement, said Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, whose labor services division oversees the training.
he requirement that at least one bouncer at certain businesses receive training took effect in January 2009. The law's advocates contend that lack of compliance with the training requirement leaves nightclub patrons and bouncers at risk.
The 2008 law was passed after Charles Lovelady, 26, was killed in a scuffle with bouncers at a Des Moines-area bar in 2000.
"Dangerous situations are happening every week," said Joann Hughes, Lovelady's mother, who is also chairwoman of Concerned Citizens for Justice, a Des Moines civil rights advocacy group.
Some state officials said the law is so narrowly written that the training requirement applies to few establishments.
Loopholes and a disconnect between the requirement and local ordinances create opportunities to skip the $50, eight-hour training with no consequences, state documents show.
Among the limitations of the law:
• It applies only to Polk County. The idea was that Polk County would serve as a pilot project that could be used by lawmakers to set up a statewide training system later.
• It applies only to businesses that serve alcohol, charge $5 or more for admittance and have occupancy of 200 or more people. Staff in the state ombudsman's office said the language leaves room for interpretation because cover charges fluctuate with events. That makes it difficult to monitor when a businesses should have trained security staff.
• There are no state or local fines or other penalties for those who ignore the law. "There's really no process for enforcement," said Ruth Cooperrider of the ombudsman's office.
• Neither the state nor local authorities maintain a tracking system to determine whether the training requirement is being met.
• The names of businesses and employees who have taken training are not made public, unlike the names of other state license holders, Koonce said. Because names are not public and because some businesses contract for security with other companies, it's difficult to track violators, the law's advocates say.
Koonce, the state's Workforce Development official, acknowledged the law's imperfections.
"There are actually very few companies that qualify for the law," Koonce said. "And the law didn't set up any type of enforcement, so it doesn't give us the authority to force anybody into training. That's something they would have to fix in another legislative session."
Most businesses - regardless of state requirements - take proactive steps to guard worker and public safety, said Doni DeNucci, chief executive of the Iowa Restaurant Association.
"If they want to find a way to be a bad operator, they will be a bad operator, but we certainly discourage that," DeNucci said.
For businesses that want to follow the law, it's difficult to find information about requirements or where the courses are taught, according to a March memo to lawmakers from the ombudsman's office. According to that memo, some Polk County officials who deal with liquor licenses acknowledged to the ombudsman that they were unaware of the act's requirements.
There's no single central location or tracking system where Polk County officials can quickly determine which establishments should be required to comply with bouncer training, ombudsman staff said.
"Even if a city wanted to enforce it, they would have to do some work to find out what cover is being charged and how many people a particular establishment can hold," said Bert Dalmer, an assistant in the ombudsman's office who wrote the March memo to lawmakers. "It's a difficult proposition to be enforced."
Lawmakers, aware of those problems, approved a bill in 2009 to require businesses in Polk County to include occupancy rates as part of their liquor license applications. As licenses are renewed or approved, it is hoped that more businesses will become aware of the requirement and comply, said Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines.
He said further revisions to the law are likely as lawmakers review the training issues.
West Des Moines resident Nick Long, 31, said he has been refused admittance to several clubs because bouncers say his clothing is inappropriate. Long, who is a friend of the Lovelady family, said his situation is an example of ongoing inequitable treatment of Des Moines nightclub patrons.
"I don't even dress like a young thug," Long said. "I wear the nice jeans, with the nice button-down shirt, nice dress shoes and a nice leather coat, and I still have trouble."
Gerald "Bo" James, a Des Moines-area music and club promoter, took the training and said he believes it's essential for public safety and for helping club or bar owners avoid liability issues. Circumstances like those described by Long could escalate into dangerous situations, he said, and professionalism is required to resolve them.
The training "really has the potential to make the night life better everywhere," he said.
Source: Goldcoast
Queensland's biggest litigation law firm has called for tighter control of the controversial security industry after the number of bouncer-related assaults sky rocketed in recent months.
Shine Lawyers, who have had a 450 per cent increase in the number of victims seeking assistance, have called on the Queensland authorities to have stronger regulatory powers.
Solicitor Nicole Paschetto said there had been a strong increase in the number of bashings.
''We have certainly seen a steady rise in the number of victims of assaults that are coming to see us, and that's a real cause for concern,'' she said.
Figures provided by the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation indicate about 50 security providers have lost their licence in the past year for a range of offences
''One of the main problems we've uncovered is that there's a disconnect between DEEDI who are responsible for issuing bouncer' licences and the police, who are usually left to deal with the consequences of bad behaviour,'' said Ms Paschetto.
Source: WtD
A professional cooler of 28 years, Ivan 'Doc' Holiday and his family of Bouncers are hoping to make the big screen in the USA & Canada.
Published author of 'The Bouncer’s Bible – The Art and Science of working the door.', "The Cooler's Grimoire - The comprehensive instructional guide to nightclub & bar security" and WtD forum member, in cooperation with Gryphon Productions, is currently dealing with a TV network to take on his reality show.
In the "Doc Holiday : Bouncer Family Series" Doc & his family are called to nightclubs & bars through out the USA and Canada that are out of control.
In some episodes, Bouncer's from around the world will be invited to train at Doc's "Bouncergear Inc Nightclub & Bar Security Academy" in Daytona Beach and work hands-on with Doc and his Family at a Florida nightclub. All expenses paid by the show. In some cases Doc will be flying to different countries to open bouncer schools & train instructors.
Doc said "You got bouncers that start more fights than they stop. Bartenders skimming, Violent patrons, Power drinkers, Streetfighters, Gang bangers, Ex-cons, Felons, Prostitutes, and Drug dealers... Our job is to clean the place up"
"The USA networks are still a hard sell because of the bad press & stereotyping in our trade. It's a hard road to walk but I have never been one to quit. The more hits we get on YouTube, the more networks will take notice of our strong cult following. We need to promote our trade and have it accepted as a professional profession. We need to dispel the myths and stereotypes that have hurt our trade in the past....Education is Power!"
You can view a teaser of the TV series on YouTube by visiting here
Source: New Zealand Herald
Police are investigating claims that an off-duty officer used his official ID to allow drinkers who may have been under-age into a bar for his girlfriend's 21st birthday.
About eight officers went to The Grange on Hurstmere Rd in Takapuna on Saturday to check party-goers' IDs after worried staff called them.
Their presence caused several guests, who may have been under-age, to leave the bar.
Police are investigating the young officer, believed to be a constable, who works in a different part of Auckland.
Blair Fergus, who owns The Grange bars in Takapuna and Ponsonby, said the man "started flashing his badge around in the bar when he realised a lot of the girls were getting IDed at the door by the bouncer".
"But a lot of them didn't have any ID so that's why he wasn't letting them in ... And then it just got out of hand and he was out there flashing his badge, saying to the bouncer, 'Let them in, I'm an off-duty cop'."
The bouncer "got a bit pissed off with that" so called the police, who arrived about 9.30pm.
"The young guy was taken away by the sergeant and had a hard word given to him.
"I'm not sure what that led to ... He was pushing his weight around and all we were doing was abiding by the law.
"I guess for the police it's not a good look that some young guy decided he could push his weight around and be The Man."
Venue manager Dan Watson said about eight other officers came into the bar and started checking party guests, but they did not find anyone under age.
"When the police started walking in, most people left."
The off-duty officer stayed at the party until it finished about midnight.
Mr Watson said that when he took the booking for the function, he told organisers that under liquor licensing rules, children were allowed in the bar if supervised by their parents, but it was "house policy" that they left about 9.30pm.
Any teenagers at the party were most probably not supervised by their parents, he said, and "that was the argument that security was having".
The bouncer, Lenny Bradley, said he turned away a handful of under-age guests when the party started about 8pm but, at the off-duty officer's request, he did not check the IDs of about 15 teenagers.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
The black velvet ropes click open and shut, open and shut – gateway to the dancing, drinking and flirting inside the Mix Downtown.
On one side of the ropes are those dressed to party. They are waiting in a queue stretching around L Street and up 16th at 11 p.m. Wednesday. On the other side are the groomed, buttoned-down and tie-accented "door hosts" of the upscale Sacramento venue.
Bouncers, once stereotyped for their Goliath-like size, inability to mince words and iron-like headlocks, are no more.
Instead, they have earned titles like door steward, door supervisor or maitre d', and stress smiles over biceps.
Still, they are charged with overseeing alcohol-fueled crowds that can turn violent in an instant. A bouncer at Q Street Bar & Grill, 32-year-old David Rasul, was stabbed last weekend trying to break up a fight that ended with a 23-year-old man dead. Two men were arrested, but one – Andre Huerta, 31 – was released after police determined he was not the one with the knife. His brother-in-law Jonathan Montejano, 26, remains in custody.
In September, bouncer Leroy Fisher, 64, was run over in the parking lot outside midtown nightclub Badlands – allegedly for forcing two patrons to leave for unruly behavior.
"Within the realm of security, working as a bouncer at a bar or nightclub is on the more dangerous side of the scale because you have patrons who are consuming alcohol," said Jeff Flint, executive director of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates. "That is a volatile mix."
To avert violence as well as fend off possible lawsuits from manhandled customers, many bars and clubs have taken an approach that stresses polite and firm over beef and brawn.
"Ten or 11 years ago, if somebody was putting your customers in danger, it wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary to get him in a headlock and remove him like that," said Justin Llorente, who has worked as a bouncer at Sacramento-area clubs for the past 11 years.
"Now, unless your life is in danger or you're being physically threatened, you don't throw a punch."
Kendall Pierce runs security at the Golden Bear at 24th and K streets. Originally a chef, Pierce decided he liked the personal interaction of bouncing better. And that interaction is what keeps the bar devoid of major incidents, he said.
"I kill them with kindness," he said. "If I get into a situation and everyone around me is a friend, it's hard to lose."
Pierce puts every bouncer he hires through a trial period that could last up to three months and keeps tabs of how much most clients have had to drink through staff who pick up empty glasses and bottles.
"He tries to be a really welcoming guy who happens to be enormous, and that has worked very well for us through the years," said the bar's co-owner Kimio Bazett.
At Shady Lady on R and 14th streets, door staff are called maitre d's and hired by co-owner Garrett Van Vleck, who started his career manning doors at the Monkey Bar, R15 and Elixir.
"When it comes down to it, being a bouncer is really about customer service, being able to talk to someone and defuse situations before they become situations," Van Vleck said.
Back at the Mix, the "door hosts," who all are wired with earpieces, are viewed as greeters, not muscle, said general manager Rob Macias.
It's easier to ask someone who's had too much to drink to come back tomorrow if they've already been greeted with a smile and have a rapport with staff, he said.
There are about 15 hosts working at any time – six at the door, several manning spots throughout the club and a few picking up glasses, cleaning up spills and keeping track of customers, Macias said.
All are trained in-house and are backed up by two Sacramento police officers who are hired by the club.
"Being 250 and 6-2 is not necessarily a prerequisite now," said owner Mason Wong. "They need to know how to communicate – that is the No. 1 prerequisite."
THE CLUB SCENE New rules went into effect this year requiring training and registration for bouncers, said Connie Trujillo, deputy chief of the state's Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
Bouncers must undergo 16 hours of training and criminal background checks to earn cards authorizing them to be Proprietary Private Security Officers.
Starting in 2011, bars that hire bouncers must also register with the state, Trujillo said.
Jeff Flint, executive director of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates – which pushed for the new rules – estimates there are close to 150,000 bouncers who work for bars, clubs, hotels and other businesses; only 5,500 are registered with the state, according to Trujillo.
The Downtown Sacramento Partnership is hosting free security training for managers at Sacramento's pubs, clubs and bars along with the Sacramento Police Department from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret, 1000 K St., Sacramento.
For more information, contact Ryan Loofbourrow, (916) 442-8575.
Source: L.A. Weekly
A re L.A. restaurants back to having bouncers? Would-be patrons who have tried to get into Rick Bayless' month-old Red O restaurant on Melrose without reservations wondered after they were turned away at the door by a burly man in a suit holding a clipboard. Except, reportedly, it's not with a "Sorry, there's no room at the bar," but rather with barely concealed condescension and, for some, worse.
LAist writer Sam Kim and a friend stopped by the restaurant last Saturday night in the hopes of grabbing a drink. But the two were denied entrance and told the bar was full. However, a glance through the window showed seats were available at the bar and the tequila lounge was empty. Regardless, the doorman wouldn't let them in and instead handed them a business card for the restaurant because "they weren't getting in tonight." When they laughed in disbelief at the gesture, what followed escalated into insults and declarations that they would never ever get in the restaurant.
Apparently this was the worst of the accounts about interactions with the doormen of Red O. "My guess is that things like this don't happen [usually] because the bouncers kind of try and intimidate you and most people don't want to argue/spend time calling them out on it," said Kim.
But those trying to get into the hot venue without first locking in a reservation are finding that they have to come up with alternative plans on the spot. So strict is the door policy, even for the bar and lounge which is first-come, first-serve but won't accommodate overflow. Fortunately the valet will hold their car while they first check at the door if they can get in. In turn, comme Ça, located down the street, has welcomed a steady stream of Red O rejects.
Wagstaff Worldwide, which handles the publicity for the restaurant, said it felt bad to hear about Kim's experience. "The owners of the restaurant want to make sure people have the best experience from the second they walk in the door," said Wagstaff. And because of that they don't want people to wait in the entrance as that would interfere with the food-focused experience of their patrons.
The PR firm also wants to make it clear that the man with the clipboard guarding the door is not a bouncer; he is a "door host." In fact, he will soon get his own host stand out front to make that distinction more obvious. The door host controls the flow of traffic into the restaurant which has been so popular even before it opened that it booked up in the first month. Therefore, the door host would first make sure the guest has a reservation before letting them in the door. The actual hostess inside the restaurant would, again, confirm they have a reservation and then take the guest to their seat.
Dan Cox of Dan Cox PR, who handles publicity for the Edison downtown, also had been turned away at the door but agrees with the restaurant's door policy. "Although [Red O] might have intended to open as a serious restaurant with a menu by Rick Bayless, the bar crowd has clearly chosen them as a cool place to hang out, and they are forced to deal with this huge influx of people as best they can."
However, L.A. restaurateur David Haskell, who has been in the restaurant industry for 17 years and has had his own encounter with the Red O doormen, disagrees, saying that if the West Hollywood eatery had a proper door person, someone trained in hospitality, it wouldn't need bouncers. "The [door host] could have easily asked us to wait outside for 15 minutes because the bar was too full at the moment and it would have been fine," Haskell said. "But instead he showed no desire to accommodate us." Haskell, himself, has handled unexpected guests at his own restaurants by giving them champagne.
Unfortunately, as long as Red O is popular, its door policy won't change any time soon, much to the chagrin of spontaneous diners and even those who live in the neighborhood. Cox won't let that deter him. "Although it did throw a wrench into our plans a bit this weekend, I'll definitely be back when I am smart enough to plan in advance by making a reservation, or when that bar crowd moves on to the next hot spot. It's just how it works in LA, and it likely always will."
Source: BBC News
South African riot police in Durban have fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of security stewards protesting over alleged pay cuts.
The clash took place in a carpark at the city's Moses Mabhida stadium shortly after it hosted a match between Australia and Germany.
The stewards said they were being paid only 190 rand (£17; $25) a day, although they had been promised more.
Reports say one woman was injured and at least two people were arrested.
It was not immediately clear how much the stewards were supposed to have been paid according to their contracts.
So far there, have been no public comments on the incident from South Africa's World Cup organising committee or Fifa.
Source: Brisbane Times
Two Gold Coast bouncers will spend seven years behind bars after they were found guilty of the bashing death of a patron.
In the Brisbane Supreme Court today, Morne Ricardo Lombaard, 30, and Denis Legradi, 32, were found guilty of manslaughter over the death of Terii Tararo. Lombaard had charges of murder dismissed.
Both were sentenced to seven years shortly before 5pm today.
A third bouncer, Naeroa Petera Tepaukouni, 37, was dismissed of manslaughter but found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Tepaukouni received a three month sentence, to be suspended for two years.
Mr Tararo, 21, died after being kicked, punched and choked by the bouncers outside Fisherman’s Wharf Tavern at Main Beach on May 18, 2008.
A post-mortem examination revealed the 130kg, 182cm man suffered 62 injuries during what the prosecution described as a "gratuitous, unnecessary, protracted beating".
Murder charges against Legradi, 32, and Tepaukouni, 37, were downgraded during the three-week trial before Justice Martin Daubney.
The court heard evidence from other patrons and security staff who testified that they saw Mr Tararo and the bouncers involved in a fight, which broke out after Mr Tararo was refused entry to the club and he punched Lombaard in the face.
Former Fisherman's Wharf Tavern security guard Tanner Hibel told the court he saw Lombaard kick his boot towards Mr Tararo's head - though did not see the kick connect - while telling him: "You couldn't even knock me out."
He was also "screaming and yelling" at Mr Tararo "I'll kill you, kaffir", Mr Hibel said.
The court was told the word is a racial slur used in Mr Lombaard's native South Africa.
Mr Hibel said in two and a half years of doing security work at licensed venues, he had restrained hundreds of people but none as strong as Mr Tararo.
"He was the strongest man," he said.
Source: The Sun
Britney Spears' top bodyguard has quit - claiming the troubled singer sexually harassed him.
Ex-cop Fernando Flores, 29, stormed out after allegedly facing a series of bizarre come-ons.
He told pals Britney, 28, often paraded naked in front of him and beckoned him into her bedroom. He is now considering suing her.
A pal revealed yesterday: "She was always giving him the come on and he felt if he didn't reciprocate he could lose his job. He finally handed in his notice last week and is considering legal action."
The friend added: "Working for Britney is tough. She's a nightmare to deal with and her emotions are totally out of control.
"She runs round the house naked and yelling at staff.
"All her guards knew they could be removed if they looked at her the wrong way. Unfortunately for Fernando, she took a liking to him, so he was under more pressure than most. He wanted to be a good security guard and look after her but the situation became unbearable."
The last straw came when Britney's dad Jamie - who is in legal control of her and can hire and fire staff - kicked off after she left her Los Angeles home without underwear.
Last month Jamie banned his daughter from going out without a bra and told her security team to enforce the rule. She was then pictured leaving a Hollywood restaurant without wearing knickers. The source revealed: "It was embarrassing to tell her to put on underwear. Some guys would do it but others were too ashamed.
"Jamie went mental when he saw the pictures and Fernando was made the fall guy. He was not fired but told he was to blame. He had had enough."
The divorced dad-of-two is considering a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Britney, claiming her sexual harassment forced him out.
Another ex-Britney minder, Tony Barretto, went to an LA court in 2007 complaining about the her erratic behaviour and insistence on walking around naked.
Source: The Independant
Blackwater, the private security company which gained notoriety for the activities of its staff while acting for the US government in Iraq, is being sold after a change of name failed to stop widespread criticism of its activities.
Erik Prince, the company's founder, blamed "politics" in Washington for the failure to "appreciate" the work being done by his firm, some of whose staff faced charges over the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians.
Mr Prince, who was close to the Bush administration, is said to be in talks with a number of possible buyers to take the company, now known as Xe, off his hands just a few months after he sold off an aviation arm for $200m (£139m).
Blackwater's employees were linked to 195 shooting incidents between 2005 and 2008 while conducting international operations. The most notorious incident, witnessed by The Independent, came at Nisoor Square in Baghdad three years ago when families were gunned down on a Sunday afternoon resulting in 17 deaths.
Widespread anger in Iraq and protests from the Iraqi government led to the US launching an investigation into the deaths and a number of Blackwater employees were indicted on federal charges. However, the case was dropped after a judge decided that the prosecutors had mishandled evidence.
More recently, five former executives, including Gary Jackson, a former president of the company, were indicted on charges of conspiring to violate federal firearms laws. This led to more Congressional scrutiny with the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin calling on the Pentagon to consider banning Xe from a $1bn deal to train the police force in Afghanistan.
Mr Prince, 40, who founded the company in 1997 with some former naval colleagues, said he would play no further part in the company once it is sold. "Xe's new management team has made significant changes and improvements to the company over the last 15 months," he said. "Performance doesn't matter in Washington, just politics." He had previously said: "The experience we've had would certainly be a disincentive to any other companies that want to step in and put their entire business at risk."
Mr Prince, a regular contributor to the Republican Party, became the largest of the State Department's three private security contractors, providing 987 guards for embassies and bases abroad.
More than 90 per cent of the company's revenues came from government contracts and the staff were among the highest paid in the corporate protection field. Blackwater guards also took part in clandestine operations run by the CIA, often taking part in raids to arrest suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and transporting detainees.
Source: India Times
Irked by the growing nuisance at bars and restaurants in the state capital here, police have asked all owners to deploy bouncers to check such incidents.
"Everyday, you hear that some youths, after having a few drinks, broke tables or were engaged in brawls with the managers or among themselves, leading to serious nuisance and threat to law and order," said Praveen Kumar Singh, senior superintendent of police.
"We will not tolerate this and police are keeping a close eye on such incidents," he warned. Singh added that a notice in this regard will soon be released by the Ranchi police, asking bar and restaurant owners to deploy trained marshalls or bouncers.
The city has seen a spurt in bars and restaurants and according to police, more then 150 beer bars are running with no appropriate measures of security. "Since we cannot deploy policemen at all bars and restaurants, we have asked them to make their own arrangements," said the SSP.
He even said that the bars and restaurants, which do not comply with the directive, could lead to the cancellation of licenses. "At many bars, orchestra and dance programmes are held, where these are often reported," Singh added.
"We have recently cancelled the licences of bars where fights and nuisance were reported almost every day," said Singh, adding that those shops or bars selling spurious liquor or drinks without appropriate permission were under police radar and surprise checking will be launched soon.
In another incident, police unearthed a mini-gun factory at Soso village under Chano police station of the district and seized two countrymade rifles and parts for around 10 arms.
Acting on a tip-off, teams from Chano and Mandar police stations raided the house of one Murshid Alam and unearthed the factory. "These parts could be assembled into 10 country-made rifles," said the SSP.
He added that Alam had been to jail earlier also in connection with the manufacture of arms and has been supplying those to local criminals and rebel outfits like CPI(Maoist), People's Liberation Front of India and Jharkhand Liberation Tiger.
Source: Brisbaine Times
Murder charges have been downgraded against two of the three bouncers accused of killing a patron at a Gold Coast nightclub in 2008.
Following legal argument in the trial of Denis Legradi, 32, Morne Ricardo Lombaard, 30, and Naeroa Petera Tepaukouni, 37, the jury was told Mr Legradi and Mt Tepaukouni had no case to answer on the charge of murder.
The pair now face the alternate charge of manslaughter, while Mr Lombaard still faces a charge of murder.
The men are accused of killing 21-year-old Terii Tararo, who died after he was physically restrained by them after being refused entry to the tavern on May 18, 2008.
A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Tararo had 62 recent injuries on his body.
The trial continues.
Source: Herald Press
Portland - Nearly half of the bars in the Old Port have embraced Police Chief James Craig's plan to tame rowdiness by using text messaging. Some owners say the vast majority of bars will eventually join the effort.
Craig's strategy takes effect this weekend.
It works like this: When a bartender or a doorman encounters an unruly patron, they will use a cell phone to send a text message to other participating bars and to police officers on patrol in the district. Participants can also transmit photos.
There will be a designated phone number for all participants to use.
Craig said he's not aware of any other city in the country that has taken such an approach to alcohol-related problems.
The idea, he said, is borrowed from Las Vegas, where casinos share information about cheating gamblers.
Bar owners who plan to participate in the program said Thursday that improving safety is simply good business. "If people don't feel safe, they won't come down," said Bob Waitkevitch, owner of the Fore Play Sports Pub on Fore Street.
Jeff Nappi, a bartender at the pub, said someone who is angry but not obviously intoxicated can often slip past a doorman at one bar after being kicked out of another.
With Portland's new program, he said, he'll be able to alert other bars about someone who appears to be looking for a fight.
"Things escalate so fast when people are drinking," he said. "It's good to nip it in the bud real quick."
On weekend nights, the pub's 13 bartenders and security workers use cell phones to communicate with each other, he said.
Jeff Grundy, a bartender at nearby Bull Feeney's, said the texting program will be a big help for preventing violence.
"It would be nice to get a heads-up that someone was causing trouble somewhere," he said. "We could stop them before they walk in."
The number of participating bars grew from eight to 13 this week. There are 30 bars in the Old Port. Doug Fuss, owner of Bull Feeney's, said he expects more than 20 will join in the program.
Craig announced the plan during a news conference Thursday in Monument Square, where a Westbrook man suffered a fatal head injury in a confrontation before dawn Sunday.
William Googins, 20, of Gray is charged with manslaughter in the death of Eric Benson, 24. Some of Benson's friends and family members stood behind Craig during the news conference.
Part of the problem, Craig said, is a culture in which young men come to the Old Port to get drunk, sometimes with the intent of fighting.
Craig said his department will have a "zero tolerance" policy for all crimes in the Old Port, particularly drunken driving, public urination, assault and disorderly conduct, which includes fighting.
"Our message to those who visit the Old Port and the surrounding area to engage in fighting: You will be arrested and charged," Craig said.
This weekend, Craig said, police will also roll out newly purchased hand-held devices that allow police to scan fingerprints in the field so prints can be compared immediately with prints in a national database.
The texting idea, which police are calling the "Text-a-tip and pic" strategy, was developed about three weeks ago, during an annual pre-summer meeting attended by police, bar owners and their staffs, said Fuss.
He said staff members of several bars in the Old Port were already cooperating by calling each other. Some bar owners and police had planned to start using cell phone texting this summer.
Fuss said the new initiative expands the effort to the entire Old Port. The use of a single phone number is also new, he said.
He said organizers are using last weekend's violent incident to encourage more bars to participate.
Source: News.com.au
A man who claimed he was kicked out of a pub for being too good-looking has had his complaint upheld.
Casanova Colin Belle claimed that door staff at the Shenannigans Irish Bar in Darwin resented his success with the venue's female clientele,
He also accused them of targeting him because he was black.
"When I go in a bar I guarantee you I stand there, not moving, and 15 women come up to me," Mr Belle said.
"I'm a friendly person, of course I'm going to talk to them."
Bouncer Gene Hocking was given a formal warning by the NI Licensing Commission for using undue force on Mr Belle when refusing him entry.
Mr Hocking told a commission hearing that Mr Belle had a history of sexual misconduct against female patrons, and that he had previously denied him entry to two different venues.
In the commission's decision, chairman Richard O'Sullivan said Mr Belle had returned to the pub to "debate his eviction."
The commission watched surveillance footage of the incident, and said the force used by Mr Hocking was inappropriate.
"On two occasions Mr Belle was pushed to the ground," Mr O'Sullivan said in the decision.
"The commission does not accept Mr Hocking's submission that Mr Belle's actions at the time constituted a threat to his safety or that physical force was necessary at all to remove Mr Belle."
Mr O'Sullivan said the commission took into consideration Mr Hocking's good record and reputation into account, as well as Mr Belle's "argumentative and at times somewhat annoying nature".
The commission declined to suspend Mr Hocking's license, and instead issued a formal warning for breaching the code of practice for crowd controllers.
Source: ABC News
Adelaide United soccer player Robbie Cornthwaite has been fined but not convicted for assaulting a bouncer last August.
He had pleaded guilty to punching the bouncer once in the head at a Hindley Street nightclub in Adelaide, fracturing the man's eye socket.
Senior Sergeant Bruce Faehrmann has told the court the bouncer stagged backwards and fell after he was hit.
He later began vomiting, then was taken to the RAH where he was diagnosed with a 1.5cm fracture in his eye socket, the court was told.
Sergeant Faehrmann said the man had surgery immediately, as long-term damage to his eye had been feared.
Former United coach John Kosmina appeared at the hearing as a character witness.
Cornthwaite, 24, was fined $2,000 and will have to pay almost $600 in costs.
Magistrate Maria Panagiotis did not impose a conviction because of the impact it might have on Cornthwaite's career.
"I'm satisfied that there is a good reason to exercise my discretion and deal with you without recording a conviction," she said.
Cornthwaite's lawyer Pat Amey said it was a spontaneous incident as a drunken Cornthwaite was being removed from the nightclub.
"It was a one-off lashing out, just on the spur of the moment," the lawyer said.
"One lucky punch or one very unlucky punch if you put it in the context of the present situation.
"When the cold hard light of day hit him, he's been thoroughly repentant and cooperative ever since."
In a brief statement, Cornthwaite said he was really sorry and was glad it was all over.
Source: Hawkes Bay Today
A spate of bogus IDs confiscated by bar staff has forced police and pub owners to take a tougher stance on minors fraudulently entering licensed premises.
Two 17-year-old high school students were to appear in Hastings District Court today after allegedly using fake IDs in Havelock North bars on Saturday night. One was charged with making false representation, the other with forgery. Both charges carry a maximum 10 years' imprisonment.
Senior Sergeant Greg Brown said a joint push between police and bar owners had been sparked by the "sheer prevalence" of minors presenting false details.
"The problem is younger people don't know their limits," Mr Brown said. "This, then, also leads to problems outside the bar."
Many were also ignorant of the consequences of a conviction.
"These are serious offences and can lead to great difficulty in a young person gaining employment or travelling. They just don't seem to think about that before they act."
He said trained door staff at some bars made a "huge difference" in reducing the volume.
"Sometimes it comes down to human error, where staff may let someone underage in, but generally they're doing a good job. But if there was a high volume of minors in a bar then we'd be focusing more on the bar."
Source: Goldcoast
A friend of a man who died after a fight with security at Fisherman's Wharf Tavern has told a court bouncers at the pub broke his arm and punched him during the incident.
Colin Loseby, 29, told the Supreme Court in Brisbane he went to see what was happening between security and his now deceased mate Terii Tararo about 10.30pm on Sunday May 18, 2008.
The Crown alleges three security guards on duty that night -- Denis Legradi, Morne Ricardo Lombaard and Naeroa Petera Tepaukonui -- murdered Mr Tararo, 21, by using excessive force and violence including choking, kicking and punching.
All have pleaded not guilty.
Mr Tepaukonui has also pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm of Mr Loseby.
Mr Loseby, a 100kg steel fixer from Arundel, yesterday told the court he was hanging around the front entrance of the pub when he saw something happening with Mr Tararo.
He said as he went over 'just to look' security came towards him, so he put his arm up but they put him in an arm lock and brought him to the ground.
He said a man, whom he later identified as Mr Tepaukonui, punched him.
"When I was laying down, my face was on the side and he was looking at me and punching me in the face," he said.
He said he also felt his arm 'snap' while he was being restrained.
"Just when they had my arm up behind my back, it snapped between my elbow and shoulder," he said.
"One of the security guards grabbed my arm, my broken arm, pulled it up and dropped it on the ground ... did that three times.
"I was just yelling in pain."
Mr Loseby said he did not see what happened to Mr Tararo.
He denied suggestions by defence lawyers that he knew Mr Tararo had previously been banned from the tavern and the group had gone to the area to cause trouble.
The trial continues.
Source: Malta Times
Philip Galea, 24, a bouncer in a Paceville club, was today cleared of seriously injuring Klenvin Falzon and slightly injuring Keith Buttigieg and Darrell Micallef in an incident in October 2006.
The court said the men were not victims but took part in the fight that broke out in front of the club.
Mr Galea was also cleared of assaulting the men.
The incident arose after the three men decided to go to the club at around 1.30 a.m. The club has a set of stairs which is divided lengthwise by a metal handrail where people exit from one side and enter from the other.
Mr Buttigieg tried to enter the club from the side where people exited and was asked by another bouncer, Elian Mallia, to go around and enter through the right way.
Mr Buttigieg obeyed but tried to push his way through a queue of people waiting to get into the club.
In his testimony, Mr Galea said he suspected Mr Buttigieg was drunk because he saw him shouting and singing in the road. As a result, he refused to let him in the club and asked him to leave.
A fight then broke out with different versions being given on who threw the first punch.
The fight grew when bouncers from nearby nightclubs gathered round to help their colleague and passers-by got involved.
Mr Buttigieg and Mr Micallef had slight injures but Mr Falzon was seriously injured with a two centimetre gash over his left eye. Mr Galea was also slightly injured and his clothes were torn.
While the two men said they saw Mr Falzon being hit by other bouncers, the court noted that only he accused Mr Galea of punching him.
"The court is not convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr Galea injured Mr Falzon because of the conflicting evidence," Magistrate Edwina Grima said.
Although criminal proceedings were initiated against the three men, the two bouncers said they forgave them, renouncing all criminal action.
Source: Argus Leader
A Minnesota man is accused of biting off a bouncer's finger during a brawl early Saturday at Los Paisanos restaurant in Sioux Falls.
Lucio Rodriguez Castro, 30, got involved in the fight after a friend, 29-year-old Ramiro Castro Garcia, punched the bouncer who was trying to kick him out of the bar, police spokesman Sam Clemens said.
A large melee ensued, Clemens said, during which Garcia ducked out of the bar - only to be arrested blocks from it - and Castro bit off the bouncer's finger. At least two bouncers and a handful of customers were involved, Clemens said.
The 39-year-old victim was taken to the hospital, but no one could find the finger.
Garcia will face simple assault charges for the punch. Castro was charged with aggravated assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in the state penitentiary.
Both men are from St. Louis Park, Minn.
Source: Wcbstv
He may claim to be "humbled" by his past behavior, but Chris Brown is still losing his infamous temper.
Just nine months after being sentenced for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, the 20-year-old singer became enraged when he was denied entrance to Eve Nightclub in Las Vegas for being underage on May 1. "He went ballistic on the bouncers and kept repeating, 'Do you even know who I am?'" an onlooker tells In Touch of the hotheaded star, who performed the national anthem earlier in the evening at the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley fight.
His tantrum wasn't the only controversial part of the night - given his February 2009 attack on songbird Rihanna, many found Chris' decision to sing at a boxing match to be in poor taste. The "Forever" crooner hardly took the criticism in stride. "Im human. how many of u r perfect????????," he fumed on his official Twitter page the next day.
Source: The Chronicle Herald
Bouncers at bars will have to be licensed and trained to do that work under a new law proposed by the Dexter government.
The province wants to create new standards for people working in private security, including guards, private investigators and the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires.
Justice Minister Ross Landry on Friday brought back the legislation he first tabled in November.
It’s basically the same bill but people affected by the proposal wanted to talk to justice officials about it and that’s what happened in the last few months, Landry said.
He said the law is about improving public safety.
"The private security industry is everywhere, and if we’re expecting our police services and other types of service providers to have standards of service delivery, this private-sector security should also have standards," Landry said at Province House.
"The community as a whole should know when they go into a licensed premise . . . that the people managing that have a certain standard of professionalism and skills."
It’s the first significant change in legislation covering the private security industry in 35 years, Landry said.
Currently, the province requires businesses employing private investigators, private guards or armed guards be registered and employees licensed.
What’s new for those businesses will be a required standard of training for employees. Landry said the training standards haven’t been developed yet.
The parents of a man who died after an altercation with a bouncer in 1999 were at Landry’s news conference. They said the new law would be an improvement.
"When you lose someone, as we have, through, I don’t know what kind of an act you would call it — pretty brutal — and I think anything we can do to help prevent it from happening again gives me, personally, a lot of satisfaction," said Cyril Giffin of Halifax.
His son Stephen, 38, was found in the parking lot of Captain Eli’s Restaurant and Lounge on Young Street on Dec. 23, 1999. He was taken to hospital and removed from life-support on Christmas Day.
Bar manager Roni Peter Labi and bouncer George Joseph MacDonald were charged with manslaughter but a jury acquitted them in 2001. The victim’s use of the antidepressant clomipramine was found to have been a factor in his death.
Giffin believes a choke hold caused his son’s death but medical evidence disputed that claim.
Liberal MLA Andrew Younger said he agrees with the idea of training those in private security but would need to see the regulations before throwing his full support behind it.
Regulations provide more details about how the law would work in practical terms but Landry said they won’t be ready for months.
"We don’t know what the use-of-force model will be and this entire bill can be changed just by using the regulations," he said.
The law, called the Security and Investigative Services Act, is similar to what’s in place in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, according to the Justice Department.
Source: Wcbstv
An off-duty corrections officers working a second job as a bouncer ends up dead, strangled by a customer. On Wednesday, that customer was sentenced to prison for manslaughter in front of the officer's widow and a courtroom packed with law enforcement.
Corrections officers, sheriff's deputies, and other law enforcement personnel saluted Stacey Reister, the widow of Andrew Reister after her husband's killer, Anthony Oddone, got 22 years behind bars.
Mrs. Reister remembered her husband while speaking to reporters.
"He was the whole package. He always put his family first, he always put his kids first. He always did for others – he was just a great, great man, and it's a big loss," she said.
Mr. Reister was working his second job as a bouncer at a Southampton bar in August 2008 when he told Oddone to get off a table where he was dancing. Oddone got off the table and choked Reister, holding him for so long and with such force that Assistant District Attorney Denise Merryman said she knew what Oddone's real intent was.
"The thrust of our case was that he had used such tremendous force and held on for such a long time that while you couldn't put a stop watch to it, individual patrons who had no interest in either party – weren't friends with the defendant, weren't friends with the victim, were able to say, 'This was going on so long that we started screaming, 'You're killing him!''"
Before he was taken away, Oddone turned to Mrs. Reister and said he was sorry. She told him, "You should be."
Mrs. Reister was asked if 22 years was too little. She said: "No, 22 is a good number. Besides, it won't be easy for him in prison."
Source: The Press
Christchurch bouncers will lead New Zealand with a qualification likened to a "warrant of fitness" for hospitality security staff.
Police last week expressed concern at bouncers' awareness of the Sale of Liquor Act and the ease with which anyone could become a doorman.
Christchurch's 45 inner-city bars have agreed to use only accredited staff from April 1.
Those staff will get Security Providers Accreditation (SPA) certificates tomorrow after being trained in how to deal with intoxicated people, host responsibility, combating drink spiking, use of force, self-defence and other issues.
The staff will train others on the Sale of Liquor Act, identifying intoxication, dealing with minors and scrutinising age documents.
A police submission last week to the Law Commission reviewing liquor laws said police supported any changes that raised the standards for managers and door staff in licensed premises.
"There is nothing stopping people with criminal histories of violent crime or links with criminal gangs becoming door staff," it said.
The voluntary programme, part of the four-year-old central-city alcohol accord, is backed by police, the Canterbury District Health Board, the Hospitality Association of New Zealand and the city council to help to cut alcohol-related trouble in central Christchurch.
Accord chairman Peter Morrison said the move aimed to bring more "professionalism" to the industry.
"It's about being more pro-active, raising standards and getting better people into the industry."
He said the new certificate was "kind of like a warrant of fitness".
Morrison said the accreditation was "just the start" of new ways to provide safer settings for bar staff and patrons.
"It's a great initiative. Christchurch leads the way."
Mayor Bob Parker said the accreditation was an important step to help mitigate alcohol-related risks for licensees, duty managers and staff.
"This new initiative shows that local businesses are willing to continue to find solutions which make a real commitment to help enhance safety and reduce the incidence of alcohol-related injury."
Christchurch Central police area commander Inspector Derek Erasmus praised the businesses.
"By working with Christchurch licensees and security providers, we hope to create an inner city in which residents and visitors feel safe after dark," he said.
The accreditation is renewed annually.
BOUNCER INCIDENTS: December 1996: A man assaulted during a late-night drinks session at Christchurch strip club Wicked Willies dies. Two bouncers, charged in relation to his death, are acquitted.
February 1999: A Christchurch bouncer who threw a drunk patron down stairs at Baileys 818 nightclub is sentenced to 12 months prison.
August 1999: A senior nightclub bouncer is sentenced to 18 months jail for a potentially fatal attack on a passer-by.
September 1999: A patron at a city cafe-bar receives a broken nose and eye socket after being pushed over and then punched by a bouncer.
September 2006: An Auckland businessman calls for bouncers to be licensed after allegedly being attacked by a Christchurch bar doorman.
February 2008: More than 100 arrests are made in the central city after another weekend of violence – with three serious assaults, including an axe attack and a stabbing.
Source: The Guardian
It is "the most controversial subject in dance music", if we are to take at least one clubber's word for it: the door policy at Berghain, the premier techno club in Berlin. Certainly, while lots of clubs are difficult to get into, few others manufacture quite the same atmosphere of pants-wetting threat as Berghain.
The whole entry process is creepy. A winding cattle pen funnels you in pairs towards the door, where the bouncers loom, radiating all the approachability of an IED. One is short, brown-haired, nondescript. The next is 7ft tall, bald, with a sloping forehead, wearing a stevedore cap and jackboots, like a cartoon of evil. And the last guy you can't even see until you step, blinking, into the spotlight. His name, appropriately, is Sven, and he sits on a chair behind the first two, dark and hulking, long hair flowing, bullets of metal stuck into him at various points. He's difficult to look at for more than a second because of the tattoo of barbed wire crawling over his face. (Here's a video of Sven in artiste mode, looking significantly more cuddly,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJle26E-Lsg I can assure you, than he does in a dark corner of an old power station at 4am.)
Then the selection process begins. The bouncers take a look at your face and do one of two things:
1. Wave you inside.
2. Tell you to leave and never return.
At peak hours – 4-10am, depending on the night, when the queue can stretch hundreds of metres and two hours into the distance – as many as 50% of eager club-goers are turned away. But how do Sven and his friends choose? No English-speakers? No girls in groups of more than three? No plaid shirts? The only consensus among Berlin's clubbers is that it has nothing to do with how good-looking, stylish or "cool" you are.
"Getting turned away from Berghain happens to everyone," says Felix of the Circus hotel's restaurant, Fabisch, which also employs a former Berghain doorman. The club has its roots in the gay scene but most nights has a very mixed crowd – and it's exactly this variety that the bouncers are trying, it appears, to maintain. In the interests of keeping the club a mix of gay and straight, men and women, stylish and laid-back, open to foreigners but with a German underground feel, Berghain engages in explicit social engineering to keep its reputation as the world's best club.
When I went a few weeks ago, two girls in front of me with chic facial studs were denied entry for no apparent reason. As I shuffled into the spotlight, hastily removing the H&M earflap cap that in Berlin brands me thoroughly as a tourist, Shovel-jaw yelled something. My non-German-speaking girlfriend, guessing, held up two fingers. "Zwei," she said. Looking bored, Shovel-jaw waved us through. We were in!
Suddenly I was staring into the chest of another gigantic figure shouting orders in German, and my girlfriend was being asked to approach a desk. Getting confused, we both turned and bumped into each other, lost in a maze of heads and tattoos and metal gates. Eventually, like a bumper car pushed into a corner, I found myself before a blond man in a T-shirt, guarding a door.
"Um," I said, my voice breaking like the fast-food employee in The Simpsons. "I don't know where I'm going."
He said something in German.
"I'm really sorry, I don't speak German," I said. "Is this the door to the club?"
The door was marked "Private". He pointed to the sign and raised an eyebrow. As I got my bearings, I realised I'd somehow managed to walk into a corner on the direct opposite side of the room from the ticket booth and door leading to the coat check. Trying to look casual but dignified, I excused myself, took my girlfriend's hand and went the right way.
The bouncer looked at a friend. "Them?" he said, loudly, in English. "Really?" They both shook their heads, sadly.
But if humiliation, arbitrariness and abject fear aren't part of your definition of "intimidating", let's hear what is – who are the world's scariest bouncers and where can we find them?
Source: Daily Telegraph
More than 10 per cent of assaults in pubs and clubs are committed by bouncers - the very people employed to protect patrons.
A study of assaults in NSW licensed premises found doormen and other staff were responsible for 12 per cent of all recorded bashings.
"In the most serious of these incidents the victims were left with broken bones by over-zealous security guards," the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) said of its study which looked at 352 assaults recorded by police in 2007 and 2008.
It found patrons were usually to blame for the incidents, especially if they had been recently refused service or thrown off the premises.
But BOCSAR deputy director Jackie Fitzgerald said the number of security guards involved in assaults was "a serious concern".
"It seems some security guards are performing their jobs with a lot more enthusiasm than they need to," she said. "That is really concerning because these people are in a position of authority and a position of power. Some of these people seem to be abusing that."
In the study, Ms Fitzgerald cited an incident where a patron was evicted from a bar, taken out the back and kicked in the head and chest by security staff as he lay on the ground, suffering two broken teeth, a broken nose and a cut face.
Ms Fitzgerald suggested better training and tighter regulation of the security industry would help reduce such assaults.
But the Australian Industry Security Association, which represents about 85 per cent of the industry, said the existing requirements in NSW were already Australia's most stringent.
The organisation's chief executive Bryan de Caires said it took 77 hours of training to get the licence required to be a qualified pub or club security guard.
"But unfortunately there are potential vulnerabilities in the quality of the training," he said.
"There have been some inconsistencies in the delivery (of bouncers' services) which is not good."
Mr de Caires said security guards caught assaulting patrons needed to feel "the full force of the law", just like anyone else.
Police Minister Michael Daley said a proposal was being prepared to reform the security industry.
"The NSW Police Force regularly visits pubs and clubs to ensure security are operating within the law, are properly credentialled and fulfilling their responsibilities," he said. "Any person charged with assault committed while performing security activities has their licence immediately revoked."
Source: Ireland Online
A 22-year-old man who claims that security staff at a nightclub "set upon him for no reason" and assaulted him has told the High Court that he "feared for his life" after being grabbed around the neck.
Student Alan Danagher, from The Derries, Erill, Co Laois claims that he was assaulted and removed Mr O's Nightclub in Templemore Co Tipperary shortly after he was knocked to the ground by two individuals, whom he did not know, who were involved in a fracas.
Mr Danagher, has sued Glantine Inns Limited, Main Street, Templemore Co Tipperary for damages on the grounds that he was assaulted and battered by agents of the defendant at the defendant's premises on December 26, 2005.
He claims their action resulted in personal injuries, and that the defendants were negligent and in breach of their duty of care towards him.
The defendants deny Mr Danagher claims.
Opening the case, John Peart SC for Mr Danagher said that Mr Danagher was grabbed by the neck when security staff who mistakenly believed his client was involved in a fight.
Counsel said that Mr Danagher was thrown on the ground and began to have a fit. He also lost consciousness before being thrown out on the street.
Counsel added that nothing was done to assist him, or get his client medical attention. Eventually Mr Danagher was taken by ambulance to Nenagh, but was released the following morning.
Counsel said that he suffered injuries to his neck and back, had problems sleeping and required counselling and medical treatment.
In reply to his counsel Stephen Lanigan-O'Keeffe SC Mr Danagher described being grabbed around the neck as a "moment of darkness" because he could not breath. "I thought it was going to be the end of me," he said.
He said that at the time of the incident he was a student at WIT, but was unable to do exams in January 2006.
He claims that after the assault he became depressed, and was feeling low and was unable to complete the year. He said that he was at home he felt demoralised and his relationship with his family suffered.
He attempted to repeat the year but that did not work out, and eventually dropped out. He returned to college in Cork, however.
Before the incident he was playing rugby, GAA and boxing. He has been unable to return to playing any of the sports he enjoyed because he gets pains in his back.
The case, before Ms Justice Mary Irvine, continues.
Source: Tulsa World
A bouncer was stabbed early Monday at a Tulsa bar while trying to disperse a crowd of unruly patrons, according to police.
The security guard ordered between five and nine people out of the El Paraiso Bar, 9421 E. 31st St., but they refused to leave the parking lot. One of the men approached with a knife and the guard pepper sprayed the man in the face.
Despite the pepper spray, the man managed to stab the guard several times. The crowd then left in a black four-door Chevrolet truck.
Police described the attacker as Hispanic, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 175 pounds.
The bouncer was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for stab wounds to the upper body. The injuries aren't thought to be life-threatening, police said.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 596-COPS or send a text message or an online tip to the Police Department at www.tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers
Source: IOL
High-profile foreign visitors are to pay up to R7 500 a day for personal protection during the World Cup.
Chris Beukes, the chief executive of TSU Protection Services, said a diplomat, celebrity or wealthy business executive could pay anything between R3 500 and R7 500 a day for a bodyguard, depending on the individual's profile.
Since the beginning of the month, he said, his company had received requests from high-profile executives for protection services during the World Cup.
"We've had a huge number and they keep coming," said Beukes.
"We will have the final figure of how many people we will be protecting during the tournament at the end of the month.
"We are looking at providing personal protection for between 60 and 100 high-profile people."
These were not executives and celebrities from Europe and the Americas alone.
"We have people from across Africa calling, from Angola and Nigeria."
Kyle Condon, the managing director of Bodyguard Protection Services, said although Cape Town and Johannesburg were being promoted as ideal destinations during the World Cup, many foreigners were sceptical. He said the biggest concern was violent crime.
"People hire bodyguards when major events are held. During past events in South Africa, we've also had a lot of inquiries, but very few of those confirmed bookings."
Condon said his company had a few confirmed projects for the World Cup, but he refused to reveal whom it would be protecting.
An average visitor could pay between R2 000 and R4 000 a day for a bodyguard, Condon said.
"Before we book a project, we do a full risk analysis on the person.
"We do a full assessment and background check of the person, and assess the routes and venues the person will be visiting."
Condon said that apart from "jumping in the way of danger", the bodyguards would be used to transport fans between stadiums, hotels and the airport.
"They are there to plan and prepare for each and every scenario, down to the smallest detail, such as knowing our clients' allergies, such as bee stings or to shellfish."
Dr Johan Burger, chief crime researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said hiring personal security during an event like the World Cup was unnecessary.
He said South Africa had an "impressive" security plan for the World Cup and extra personal security would be a waste of money. But he acknowledged that "we can't blame people for hiring bodyguards".
Source: Times Record News
A Senate panel has effectively tossed out a bill that would have required bar bouncers to be licensed.
Sen. Mary Easley's bill died Monday in the Senate Business and Labor Committee when it failed to receive a motion for passage.
The Tulsa Democrat says she introduced the bill at the request of a constituent, a woman whose son was killed after an altercation with a bouncer at a Tulsa nightclub.
The measure would have required bouncers to have a security guard license or be a licensed police or peace officer.
Some members of the committee expressed concern about adding new license requirements for a profession that has been unlicensed for decades.
Source: Malta Times
Police have not issued licensed security guards with identity cards for over a year, The Sunday Times has learnt.
The law stipulates that the cards should bear a photograph of the security guard and be worn in a "conspicuous place".
However, Khiron Security managing director John Muscat said: "It is impossible for clients or the public to know who is actually licensed when there is no official document being displayed, as required by law. So we inform our guards to carry photocopies of their paper licence in case anyone asks."
The police informed licensed security companies and guards asking for ID cards that the machine which printed the cards had broken down. It would cost an estimated €1,000 to buy a normal card printer as a replacement.
Jean Camilleri of JF security backed the claim that ID cards were not being issued, while Kenneth De Martino, managing director of G4S Security Services, one of the largest guarding agencies in the country, was not even aware guards had to be issued with ID cards by the Police Commissioner.
Calls and e-mails to the police to try and establish if and why ID cards were not being issued to private guards remained unanswered.
The news emerged following an incident in Paceville on Valentine's night when two Italian men suffered serious injuries after an altercation with two bouncers.
The bouncers are being charged with working as private guards without a licence, attempted murder and seriously injuring the two men.
The incident comes after the death last May of a 28-year-old Sudanese migrant, Suleiman Ismail Abubaker, who succumbed to injuries sustained in an altercation with a bouncer in Paceville.
In the wake of the Valentine's night incident, the Justice Ministry last week said a Bill to amend the existing Private Guards and Local Wardens Act, which already establishes that private guards have to be licensed, would be published in the Government Gazette in the coming days.
The Times reported last Thursday that the Bill would mean new licences being issued and a net distinction made between security guards at entertainment establishments and private guards protecting valuables. It was reported the new licences would outline their specific duties and obligations.
Industry sources said some establishments currently avoid using licensed security guards and bypass the law by employing their own security men.
But new legislation will only work if there is proper enforcement, according to Yves De Barro, managing partner of DB Consulting Group, which works in security among other areas.
Reacting to the statement by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, which called for proper legislation to ensure all security personnel were properly trained and licensed, Mr De Barro said: "Legislation already exists, but enforcement is lacking. The MHRA could start by instructing its members not to employ or commission the services of unlicensed individuals or security companies."
Furthermore, he said, if the law which stated the identity card should be worn in a conspicuous place was enforced, the contracting of unlicensed guards would cease.
The employment of unlicensed guards was just one of the problems Mr De Barro identified in the security industry. He said security companies applied different standards when it came to training and there were no spot checks to ensure guards were being adequately prepared for the tasks they carried out.
He also said some tenders were being awarded at questionably low rates to certain security companies. These were effectively rewarding the companies who minimised costs by spending less money on training and not paying their guards adequate wages.
His claims were echoed by Mr Muscat, who said his company recently missed out on a contract by a government-appointed body because they could not cover their costs at the rate offered by the winning bidder.
"We protested and were eventually informed their board was not competent enough to determine whether companies are offering rates high enough to pay minimum wage and so on," he said.
Mr Muscat would welcome the establishment of a Security Industry Authority, similar to the one in the UK whose sole purpose would be the regulation of the industry and the improvement of standards over time. The authority would answer to the minister and report any infringements to the Police Commissioner for further investigation.
The Bill to amend the Private Guards and Local Wardens Act had its first reading in Parliament on February 9, but the clerk of the House said this only amounted to a reading of the title of the Bill and no details were revealed.
The Justice Ministry refused to say if the Bill would establish a security authority similar to the one in Britain.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
Doorman in Jersey are asking for stab vests and metal detectors for their own protection.
In the second part of the JEP’s week-long investigation into street violence in Jersey, one doorman has written on behalf of his colleagues to States Members asking them to give door staff the same level of personal protection as the States and honorary police.
Roy Travert, who has worked part-time in the security industry for three years, has written to Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand and Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean to ask for new laws to be introduced that protect security staff against violent and verbal assaults, as well as stiffer sentencing for those who assault members of staff.
Mr Travert, who stood for election to the States in 2005, has also requested that door supervisors be equipped with stab vests and metal detectors for a trial period of three months.
‘This is standard procedure in many nightclubs in the UK and abroad,’ he said.
Source: The Age
Two brothers accused of taking part in a savage machete assault that left a CBD nightclub bouncer with a partially savaged foot are believed to have fled interstate.
Around 10 men were believed to have been involved in the November 22 attack in front of hundreds of patrons lined up outside Bubble nightclub, in Francis Street, between Spencer and King streets.
Police said the attack was sparked when a bouncer saw that a man queuing for entry had dropped a knife. Within seconds of approaching him, the bouncer was under attack from a large group brandishing machetes. Other guards were forced to drag him to safety, warding off the blows with chairs and bollards.
At the time detectives said the attack had severed most of the bouncer's leg, but the club's owner, Peter Iwaniuk, said police were exaggerating the man's injuries.
Detectives already have an arrest warrant out for one of the men believed to have been involved, Thanh Tam Nguyen, 22, from Keilor Downs.
Police have now identified his brother, 20-year-old Thanh Cong Nguyen, as another suspect. A warrant has been issued for his arrest in relation to intentionally cause serious injury.
It is believed the brothers are receiving assistance to evade capture.
Tam was last known to be driving a grey 2009 Toyota Yaris hatch with the registration number XFG 746.
Detectives have already charged three men with intentionally causing serious injury and another two men with affray in relation to the nightclub attack.
Anyone with information is urged to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or go to www.crimestoppers.com.au
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
A Greek nightclub bouncer has been jailed for 22½ years over the death of Australian tourist Doujon Zammit.
Marios Antonopoulos, 25, was yesterday found guilty of inflicting wounds that caused the 20-year-old Sydney man's death in a brawl on the holiday island of Mykonos in July 2008.
Two other men involved in the attack were jailed for 7½ and eight years.
All three men were found guilty after having their original charges of murder and attempted murder downgraded by a panel of judges and jurors following a trial on the island of Lesbos.
Mr Zammit's mother, Rosemarie, his father, Oliver, and his two younger brothers were in court to hear the verdicts and sentences.
Sitting in the front row of the public gallery, Mrs Zammit clutched a picture of her son and wore a gold locket containing a photo of him.
Antonopoulos showed little emotion when the verdicts and sentences were read out.
He sat alongside George Chatzioannou and Dimitri Varonas, who were found guilty of being present during the attack but without the intention of killing Mr Zammit instead of the original charges of attempted murder.
Chatzioannou was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison, while Varonas was handed a 7½-year sentence.
However, both escaped being jailed after the court allowed them to walk free on bail of €10,000 ($15,600) after their lawyers said they would appeal against their sentences.
Mr and Mrs Zammit expressed fears that Chatzioannou and Varonas could flee Greece while on bail and never face the punishment imposed on them.
"We believe in justice, we believe in the law and we accept the sentences that were passed down,'' Mr Zammit told reporters outside the court.
"[We're] a bit disappointed two men are going to be walking the streets, two men that have proven to be dishonest.
"Two men that have the financial ability to leave this country and never come back so they won't have to serve their time.''
Antonopoulos also intends to appeal against his sentence, but will remain behind bars until his case is heard by a higher court.
He and two other Australian men had left the Tropicana nightclub about 11pm on July 28, 2008, on a quad bike and were chased by Antonopoulos and three others amid a dispute over a missing handbag.
The Australians were confronted by the men about 1.5 kilometres from the club, pushed up against a wall and searched before Mr Zammit was repeatedly beaten and hit with batons.
He was taken to hospital in Athens but later died when his life-support machine was turned off.
The nightclub owner, Stamatis Daktylidis, was earlier found not guilty of supplying weapons.
A fifth person accused of being involved in the attack is due to face a separate trial in a juvenile court.
Source: TDN
The son of a retired Longview police captain went on trial Wednesday for allegedly pulling a gun on three bouncers in the alley behind Kesler's Bar and Grill in downtown Longview.
Brian Adam Barnd-Spjut, 29, of Longview, faces four counts of second-degree assault with a firearm.
Deputy prosecutor Amie Hunt said Wednesday that on the night of March 28 Barnd-Spjut refused to pay the bar's $5 cover charge and refused to leave. She said he brandished an semi-automatic handgun at three bouncers and a manager after they forced him down a hallway and pushed him into the bar's back alley.
Hunt said Barnd-Spjut pulled the trigger repeatedly, but the gun wasn't loaded.
Longview defense attorney Duane Crandall, who has a reputation for representing clients in self-defense cases, claims his client knew Kesler's was a dangerous place where bouncers have been known to behave like thugs. Crandall said Barnd-Spjut reluctantly stopped by to visit with manager Brandon Kesler, whose father Leo Kesler Jr., owns the bar. Barnd-Spjut, who has a concealed weapons permit, pulled the gun in self defense, only after he was set upon by the security staff, Crandall said.
In 2006, the Longview Police Department singled out Kesler's, saying officers were repeatedly called there following outbreaks of violence. Crandall said Barnd-Spjut had spoken with his father, retired Longview police Capt. Don Barnd, about how "dangerous" Kesler's was becoming, and the elder Barnd encouraged his son to stay away from the bar.
Barnd-Spjut had heard stories about the bar's bouncers, some of whom weren't officially on the payroll, Crandall said. "Not just the clientele, but the bouncers liked to fight," he told the jury. "The bouncers liked to beat people up."
A series of grainy security videos played in court Wednesday purportedly show Barnd-Spjut talking with bouncers in the nightclub. Barnd-Spjut and two bouncers are walking toward a hallway leading to the back of the club when a scuffle breaks out. Barnd-Spjut appears to stiffen, then bouncers seize him and force him down the hallway. A doorman joins the fray, and a figure identified by prosecutors as Brandon Kesler rushes from the kitchen.
In the alley, Barnd-Spjut appears to whip a handgun from his waistband and brandish it for about three seconds before tucking it away again. The man thought to be Kesler is seen waving him off.
Bouncer Phillip Church testified that Barnd-Spjut aimed the gun at his stomach. Another bouncer, Dominador Pomaikai Daniel, who is 6-foot-five and 340 pounds, said he took cover just inside the club's door. Daniel, who is of Pacific Island descent, said Barnd-Spjut shouted a racial slur as he waved the gun and appeared to be calling for him to come back into the alley.
Barnd-Spjut got back into his truck and rode with his friends and girlfriend over to the Silver Star, another downtown Longview bar. He was arrested at gunpoint in the bar's parking lot a short time later by roughly a dozen police officers from throughout the county who flooded to the scene.
The defense has not disputed that the man brandishing the gun in the video is Barnd-Spjut.
Brandon Kesler was brought to court Wednesday after being arrested Tuesday evening on a material witness warrant. Kesler, who was accompanied by a corrections officer, was shown the security video of the incident, but said he could not verify that he was one of the men in the video.
He also said he can't recall exactly what transpired the night of the incident. Kesler, who said he was testifying against his will, also declined to identify Barnd-Spjut as the man who pointed the gun at him.
"You don't remember a single thing of having a gun pointed at you?" asked Hunt, the deputy prosecutor.
"It was a long time ago," Kesler said, adding that he'd been taking pain killers last March following a car wreck.
A police report said Kesler considered Barnd-Spjut a friend, and Longview police officer Ken Hardy testified Wednesday that the pair spoke on the phone shortly after police arrived at Kesler's.
Hardy said he heard Kesler tell Barnd-Spjut: "You just pulled a gun on me. I almost crapped my pants. I thought I was going to get shot."
Source: Jam Showbiz
A group of bouncers accused of assaulting three customers at Jay-Z's sports bar in Atlantic City, New Jersey last year has been hit with various charges of assault.
Several security guards were caught on camera(View footage here) in October kicking and punching Bryant Norwood, Leonard Clark and Tyrell Durant in the parking lot of the 40/40 Club after the patrons were kicked out of the venue for disorderly behaviour.
The employees have since been fired from their jobs as a result of the incident, and now they are facing prosecution for their actions.
According to Monmouth County Attorney Eugene Melody, two of the victims - Clark and Durant - officially pressed charges against nine bouncers on Monday, with the 14 counts ranging from assault and aggravated assault after they were sprayed with a fire extinguisher.
Norwood filed suit against the club and the bouncers involved in the case in December, claiming the "bullies" attacked him for "no reason" as he left the establishment.
He is seeking a "substantial amount of money" from the club owners and bouncers after allegedly sustaining "diverse personal injuries" and "permanent injuries".
Source: Earth Times
Frankfurt - Men who plead, or even whine, leave Heike Wingenfeld cold. A door supervisor at Sansibar City, a swank club, disco and bar in Frankfurt's bank district, she is a merciless enforcer of her boss's admission requirements, which could be summed up in the word "trendy."Wingenfeld, 45, has been in the business for 21 years and claims the distinction of being Frankfurt's first female doorman.
Though she stands over six feet tall, mannish she is not. A blonde, extremely slim and exquisitely styled ex-model, she said that when it came to separating welcome guests from wannabes, her gender often gives her an advantage over her male counterparts, whom she calls "hulks."
"The problem with men is their feeling of power," she remarked. "They don't realize that the power is in the position and nobody gives two hoots about them personally."
Secretary to the state director of a large insurance company on weekdays, Wingenfeld does not take her sideline too seriously, describing it as "an amusing change of pace."
She is friendly to all comers, even run-of-the-mill slobs in athletic shoes. But her standard rebuff -- "Unfortunately, you are not right for the club" -- is always firm and unsympathetic. "You get hard-boiled after all those years," she said.
As the door supervisor, she usually heads Sansibar City's security team and has seen a lot over the years. The worst thing that ever happened, she said, was a man throwing a punch at her that she just managed to duck.
She said that men who are denied entry generally reacted with pique ("Then I'll spend my money somewhere else!") and occasionally with an insult ("Slut!"). But rejected women behaved worse, she said: "They get totally bitchy."
A Frankfurt painter, whose familiarity with Wingenfeld consisted of small talk at Sansibar City, once sent her two pictures, she related. "My Darling" was written on one of them, and "Forever" on the other. There was also a proposal of marriage. Wingenfeld declined.
She stays in contact with her colleagues via a headset and is posted either at the front door or in front of the VIP area. People who want to enter the latter must be on the guest list -- or famous. They must also order something to eat or drink -- "champagne, at the very least," she said.
Among the celebrities who have showed up at Sansibar City are seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and German national football team captain Michael Ballack.
Wingenfeld scans the club with her heavily mascaraed eyes. "Here comes a player from Eintracht (a first-division football club in Frankfurt), and there's one from the FSV (a second-division Frankfurt football club)," she points out.
Every night at the VIP door, Wingenfeld said, she receives about 500 pecks on the cheek from Frankfurt's hip, rich and beautiful. "Afterwards I have got all their fragrances on my face," she said. But that is part of the job, she added, as is "radiating good cheer even when you are in a bad mood."
"I call everybody 'sweetie' or 'sweetheart.' I don't want to memorize all the names," Wingenfeld said in her smoky voice.
Wingenfeld is so well known in Frankfurt that she wears dark glasses when she strolls through the popular Fressgass, or "Eat Street," which is lined with delicatessens, quality food stores, cafes and restaurants.
She is now converting her local fame and wealth of experience into a business venture. In January she is to open her own door supervisor school, offering courses in "how to select and handle guests correctly." As Wingenfeld sees it, "There are so many bad door supervisors." Club owners can also book her as a coach at weekends to evaluate the work of their doormen.