Source: The Peterborough Examiner
The OPP has cracked down on local bars and bouncers, issuing more than 30 charges under the Private Security and Investigative Services Act.
The act states that anyone working as security personnel in Ontario must be properly licensed.
Security personnel, including bouncers, must complete a training course, pass a test and undergo a background check before the Ministry of Community and Correctional Services approves the $80 licence.
Bars and hotels that employ in-house security also have to register with the province.
In other words, you can’t have your buddies come down and keep patrons in line.
Bouncers need to be properly trained and licensed.
Staff Sgt. Rick LePage, with the OPP’s Anti-Rackets Branch, provincial security enforcement unit, said the investigation was the result of a few complaints OPP received about security staff in Peterborough.
“A number of the places we investigated were in violation of the act,” he said.
Officers checked 14 bars in Peterborough last Friday, LePage said, and found violations at six.
Two were in compliance with the law, one was closed when police arrived and five bars had no security working when officers arrived.
Charges include five counts of working as an unlicensed security guard, 10 counts of employing an unlicensed security guard, 10 counts of failing to register as an in-house security employer and eight counts of failing to wear a uniform that complies with regulations.
The charges aren’t criminal offences. The legislation falls under the Provincial Offences Act, which means anyone charged got a summons to appear before a justice of the peace.
Police aren’t releasing the names of the establishments or those officers issued summons to. All are getting a court date of July 23.
LePage said investigators are doing a little due diligence this week, figuring out who owns each establishment in order to issue a charge to the right person.
He said more individuals might also be charged.
The number of charges is high, but LePage said the unit sees a similar problem right across the province.
Much of it comes down to education, he said, making sure people know what the requirements are.
A justice of the peace can send someone to jail for a year for a conviction of working as a bouncer without a licence. LePage said it’s unlikely that that will happen.
Most cases result in fines ranging from $500 to $3,000, he said. But fines can be as high as $25,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a business.
The licensing legislation came into effect in August 2007. It was based on the findings of a coroner’s inquest into the death of Patrick Shand.
Shand, 31, died in September 1999 after two store employees and a mall security guard wrestled him to the ground outside a Scarborough grocery store.
Shand was suspected of shoplifting. He suffocated after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground.
His death was labelled as “accidental.” But the coroner’s inquest issued 22 recommendations relating to licencing and proper training for anyone required to stop and detain customers as part of his or her job.
NOTE: The OPP investigated the complaints because it’s mandated by the province to do so. Municipal police forces, including Peterborough’s, can also investigate these types of complaints, but aren’t required to do so under the legislation.
Source: Des Miones Register
Police said a University of Iowa student tried to use a stolen ID to enter the Union on Saturday morning.
The only problem with Steven J. Fiorella’s plan was that ID was stolen from the bouncer who was working the door that night.
Fiorella, 19 of Chicago, presented the doorman his ID, which Fiorella tried to pass off as his own.
According to a criminal complaint, the doorman — who is not identified in the criminal complaint — notified Iowa City police officers at 12:55 a.m. that Fiorella tried to use his ID to enter the Union. The driver’s license was reported stolen in February, police said.
Fiorella also was in possession of the doorman’s debit card and AAA card. Police said Fiorella said he purchased the items for $20.
Fiorella was arrested and charged with fifth-degree theft and unlawful use of another’s ID.
Source: News 4
A bouncer at a South Side nightclub was shot to death while he was just trying to do his job.
The shooting took place around 12:00 a.m. Thursday morning at the "MVP Club" on Roosevelt Avenue near Southeast Military Drive. Witnesses told police a customer got into an altercation with the bouncer, 24-year-old Frank Bernard Lurati, after the customer bumped into Lurati while leaving the bar. Words were exchanged between the two, and the customer told Lurati "I'll be back."
According to a police report, the customer returned about 20 minutes later. Witnesses say he pulled up in front of the club in a silver-colored car and tried to get Lurati to come over to his vehicle. When Lurati refused, witnesses said they heard what they believed were three gunshots. Lurati was shot twice, once in the left chest and once in the groin area. He died at the scene.
Police are looking for the shooter. Officers say he seen driving a 2002-2005 silver Chevy Impala or Chevy Malibu and fled south on Roosevelt Avenue.
Source: Daily Mail
A 21-year-old woman has accused the bouncers at her local pub of discrimination after she was banned from dancing on the bar because she was told she was too fat.
ABC News reports Jordan Ramos, a student at the University of Iowa, who describes herself as 'plus-sized', says she was with friends at Union Bar in Iowa City last month when she tried to climb onto the bar.
Miss Ramos says she was told to get back on the floor because she 'was not pretty enough' and was 'obviously pregnant'.
ABC reports the bouncer told Miss Ramos the bar was at capacity during a night out on March 3.
She told the network she waited until a few girls stepped off to make room and tried a second time to stand on the platform - but was stopped again.
Miss Ramos said a friend confronted the manager, but he refused to discuss the matter and asked the women to leave.
A follow-up email sent by Miss Ramos was never answered, she said.
'There was only one difference: I am a plus-sized individual,' she told ABC.
'The bouncer said "Look, you will never get up on this platform. Go back to the dance floor where you belong."'
She returned to the bar again on April 14, and was again rejected.
'He said, "You’re not pretty enough and you’re pregnant." I said, "I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that I am not pregnant."
'He then looked at my stomach and said, "You obviously are." They knew I was not pregnant; it was there way of calling me fat without having to actually say it,' she said.
Miss Ramos filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, but officials told her they could not investigate because size discrimination is not illegal.
The incidents, she said, have made her question her worth.
She told the Des Moines Register: 'It made me start questioning myself and thinking, "Are my friends so much better than me?" I know they’re thinner, but those bouncers made them seem more valuable.'
She told the website she was surprised the incidents took place in Iowa City, which she considers 'open-minded'.
'We all paid the same cover to get into the Union, but we’re not given access to all the same things they have to offer,' she said. 'I feel like it is their job to provide everybody a great time, especially if everybody pays the same price.'
A manager for The Union Bar did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
Source: Herald Sun
A woman says she will be lodging a complaint with the state's Anti-Discrimination Commission claiming a popular nightclub refused her entry because she was too fat.
Sarah Griffin, 27, was celebrating her birthday in Hobart with friends on April 7 when the incident unfolded at the entrance to the nightclub, The Mercury reports.
But the club's manager completely rejects the allegation made by Ms Griffin, her partner and her friends. The manager says he was there and that Ms Griffin's outfit did not meet the venue's dress code.
The couple disagrees.
"I was absolutely devastated by what happened," Ms Griffin told the Mercury.
"Ten of us were lined up behind a few other couples about 11.30pm after going to a nice restaurant for dinner. Two of my friends were allowed in before they got to me and then the bouncer said 'no, not letting you in with those shoes'."
Ms Griffin agreed to be photographed by the Mercury wearing the same outfit she had on that night. The shoes in question are Colorado brand black dress shoes.
"When I pointed this out, the bouncer said, 'well, we're not letting you in in those jeans'.
"I felt humiliated, I started to cry and my partner asked him what the problem was and he said 'we don't let big girls in baggy jeans in'.
"At that stage things did turn ugly. I was crying and Todd [Harding, her partner] was angry and the other bouncers stepped in and started ridiculing us and Todd was arguing with them. Two of my friends were inside and we couldn't believe this was happening."
Her distressed mother, Maxine, said: "She looked lovely.
"Sarah has battled depression and her weight she had lap-band surgery and has lost almost 40kg and she came home sobbing. It broke my heart."
The nightclub manager denies one of his bouncers spat in Mr Harding's face when the argument escalated.
"Absolutely not," he said. "Come to the nightclub and you will see people of all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities there is no discrimination.
"You can't come in if you look like you've been to the local supermarket.
"We turn hundreds of people away because they don't understand the dress requirement."
Heidi Heinrich, a friend of the couple, was also there that night and spoke to the manager, whom she described as the "rudest person I've ever come across".
"I worked for years at nightclubs and you were expected to be nice to people, diffuse any potentially difficult situations, and to treat people fairly. I couldn't believe what I witnessed [at the nightclub]," Ms Heinrich said.
"Sarah was obviously devastated, and I went over and said I want to speak to the manager, and he said 'I'm it and if you don't like it f... off, go to the cops, they're over there'.
"Todd [an Australian Army soldier] eventually said 'I don't need this, I've been to defend my country', and one of the bouncers said 'I thought they had a height and weight requirement, f... off'.
"It was completely outrageous and totally unacceptable.
"I was very polite to him, very conscious of what I was saying."
Ms Griffin said she intended to make a complaint and the Anti-Discrimination Commission confirmed any such complaint would be investigated.
The nightclub manager said there was a verbal altercation and he would look at the footage.
"I would welcome any investigation because we did absolutely nothing wrong their behaviour was unacceptable and they've fabricated this story," he said.
The Mercury has withheld the nightclub's name until the outcome of any hearing is known.
Source: The Sun
A security guard yesterday told of his horror as he watched maniac Anders Breivik’s huge bomb van blow up, killing eight people.
Tor Inge Kristoffersen focused on CCTV images of the vehicle seven minutes after it was parked outside the Norwegian Prime Minister’s office.
He told an Oslo court: “When I was zooming in, the car exploded. Half of the images disappeared because the CCTV cameras had been destroyed. There was a huge roar. It looked like a war zone.”
Police chief Thor Langli told the court that after the bomb he heard reports of people being shot on Utoya island.
Looking at Breivik, he added: “I thought there was a connection. I could not imagine there being two people with so many crazy ideas.”
Breivik, 33, denies mass murder, claiming it was self-defence because the 77 people he killed backed “multi-culturalism”. Trial continues.
Source: 69 News
Some are hailing him as a hero -- a nightclub bouncer who sprung into action and helped police nab a murder suspect.
69 News spoke to him and his boss Monday night.
After a deadly shooting outside Club Horizon on Airport Road, the bouncer jumped in his own car and followed the suspects until state police caught up to them.
The security man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he only did what he hoped anyone else would do after a crime.
"He's my hero," said Club Horizons owner Anthony DeLeon.
As a boss, DeLeon wasn't too happy that one of his security guys followed a fleeing homicide suspect. But as a person, he couldn't be prouder.
"I believe that's the only reason they were caught, at that time," he said.
The shooting happened in the parking lot outside the club early Sunday morning, right at closing time.
DeLeon said the victim, Teddy Bell, was there celebrating his birthday when a minor fight broke out.
"At best a small scuffle, pushing and shoving," said DeLeon.
Security video DeLeon showed 69 News shows everyone leaving the club peacefully. A security person escorted Bell to his car, but witnesses told police, when Bell saw the man he'd fought with earlier, he ran toward the man's car, shouting, "This is the (expletive) here!"
That's when police say Amos Muir, 37, of Wilkes-Barre, opened fire. After the car Muir was in peeled out of the parking lot, DeLeon's bouncer jumped into his own vehicle and followed the suspects onto Route 22.
"He followed behind at a safe distance and coordinated along with 911 operator, which also coordinated with state police," said DeLeon.
State troopers caught up with Muir and two others in the car just a few miles away.
According to an arrest warrant, they found a stolen Glock handgun and several spent shell casings inside.
Security is typically tight at Club Horizon, with at least 12 security members on site and 16 cameras. DeLeon believes the club is safe.
69 News asked, "Are you worried at all about retalliation?"
"No, not all," he responded. "It's not the normal street thing where, 'Oh you snitched,' or whatever."
DeLeon added that while one bouncer was following the suspects, another administered CPR on Bell, keeping him alive for at least a few minutes. He later died at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill.
Gregory Fluker, 35, of Bethlehem was also shot in the shoulder, but was treated and released.
Both Bell and Muir have criminal histories, but it does not appear they knew each other.
Muir now faces homicide and related charges. He's in the Lehigh County Prison with no bond.
Two alleged accomplices are also in jail under $1 million bond.
Source: Stamford Patch
According to authorities, a 24-year-old Stamford man was arrested and charged in connection to the stabbing of a bouncer Sunday night just before midnight.
Ismael Antonio Esteban-Lazaro, of Stephens St., was arrested by officers responding to an unruly individual at Hugo's Restaurant, a taco joint in the 100 block of Stillwater Ave., police announced Monday.
Police said Esteban-Lazaro was being escorted out of the establishment for causing a disruption when he suddenly charged back into the business and stabbed the bouncer in the stomach.
A second bouncer working at the restaurant gave chase and pursued the suspect all the way to Stamford Hospital while on the phone with police, giving a description of the suspect and location of the chase, police said.
Esteban-Lazaro was picked up by officers and found to be in possession of a 4-inch switchblade knife, police said.
The victim of the stabbing was taken to Stamford Hospital for exploratory surgery and was listed in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries.
Esteban-Lazaro is being held in leiu of $75,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court Monday. He faces assault, weapons and resisting arrest charges
Source: Hindu Times
Egged on by the city police, pubs and bars at Sahara Mall have started deploying trained, verified and more “sobre-looking” security guards in place of “unruly” bouncers. Personal security officers (PSOs) -- as they are now known – have been hired from registered private security agencies. Five pubs in the mall have hired more than 25 PSOs from a security agency, so far. More are expected to follow the suit.
Clad in semi-formal attires – black T-shirt and trousers -- complete with ID cards, these PSOs will take care of the security of the pubs which had gained notoriety owing to frequent brawls.
The security agency had got the police verification of these PSOs done, said a pub owner.
Ashok Tanwar, the owner of Ignite, said the PSOs would be more “presentable and courteous”. These factors help in regaining public confidence.
“A series pub brawls had damaged our reputation. I am sure PSOs will make a change,” he added.
On March 21, the police had slapped a blanket ban on the deployment of bouncers in the pubs.
DCP (crime) Maheswar Dayal said, “Pub employees should behave sensibly with the crowd. If we find that a pub has hired a security guard from an unauthorized agency, we would take strict action against the pub owner.”
As many as 15 cases have so far been registered against bouncers of Sahara Mall.
Source: Bouncer Boot Camp
WtD member Ivan 'Doc' holiday has started his very own Bouncer Boot Camp, in which he trains door staff starting in the industry and giving them the tricks of the trade.
Ivan's boot camp is also featured through YouTube. Episode one can be seen below.
Ivan said "Bouncers from all over the US and the world come to my club to be trained by the best damn cooler in the business"
"Furthermore, there are those who say 'I would make a good bouncer." Well on my show the wannabe bouncers will get their shot"
Source: The Local
The family of a British man who was beaten to death in a Frankfurt nightclub last Easter were in court on Wednesday to see the four bouncers accused of the attack go on trial.
Expat Lee John Heath died in hospital two days after the nightclub beating which left him with horrific head, neck and internal injuries. Doctors carried out a series of operations but could not save him.
His mother, brother and sister sat opposite the accused as the trial began on Wednesday.
The four security personnel, aged between 20 and 36, were on duty at the "U 60311" techno club when they apparently attacked Heath early on Easter Monday morning last year.
Three are charged with manslaughter, another with failing to assist Heath as he lay on the ground.
According to state prosecutors, the incident arose at around 6:15am out of an argument between another guest at the club and one of the bouncers. As the bouncer attempted to pull the man away from the bar, he apparently fell into Heath, who had nothing to do with the row.
The bouncer then attacked Heath, and was joined by two colleagues, who until then had been standing at the door. The three men beat Heath unconscious, then carried him up the stairs to the entrance and dumped him on the pavement.
Passers-by discovered the 31-year-old Briton soon afterwards and called an ambulance, where he was resuscitated. He underwent six operations on his severely damaged internal organs in the following hours.
CCTV footage of the incident was subsequently released on Facebook.
Speaking to the Local last year, Heath's mother Marie described her son as a football fan who had moved to Germany to build a new life for himself and his long-term German girlfriend.
He was an active member of The Local's forum Toytown Germany, and an in-demand handyman who wanted to start his own business.
"Lee didn't deserve this but he fought to the end," said his mother. "I have to be his voice."
The Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported that the four accused did not speak during the proceedings.
The role of the youngest bouncer remains one of the biggest unknown factors in the incident.
The 20-year-old apparently did not take part in the beating itself, but the paper reported that he may have stopped other guests from intervening, and helped to carry Heath out of the club.
His defence lawyer says he was legally a minor at the time, and called for his trial to be separated from that of his co-defendants and brought before a juvenile court.
The trial is expected to last at least until June – more than 20 witnesses have been called.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
A security guard at a Cronulla nightclub has lost his security licence after allegedly knocking out a patron even though criminal charges against him were withdrawn.
The guard, Fawzy Hamdan, repeatedly assaulted the male patron outside the Fusions Nightclub in October 2010 before knocking him unconscious.
After some pushing and a hit to the head, the guard rolled the patron on his back and held him down, before pulling him up and throwing him on to a parked car.
"When the patron stood, and attempted to walk out of the gutter, again offering no apparent threat, Mr Hamdan knocked him out," the tribunal found.
He claimed he had acted in self-defence and was fearful because of verbal abuse by the patron.
The confrontation, which lasted several minutes, was apparently sparked by the patron's desire to return to the club to contact his friends.
He was not refused entry because he was drunk or disorderly, but because the 2am lock-out time had started.
The Administrative Decisions Tribunal ruled on Friday that Mr Hamdan was not a fit and proper person to hold a security licence.
Serious assault charges against Mr Hamdan had been withdrawn because the victim had gone overseas and would be unavailable to give evidence, the tribunal was told.
The tribunal made its finding on the basis of CCTV footage of the incident and Mr Hamdan's evidence.
"In my view a licence holder who, without lawful excuse and in response to verbal provocation, repeatedly assaults a patron and knocks that patron unconscious, is not a suitable person to hold a licence ...
"The nature and purpose of the security industry is to protect against and deter the type of violent and thuggish behaviour exemplified by Mr Hamdan in the CCTV footage. Mr Hamdan's job was to deter such behaviour, not indulge in it," the tribunal said.
Source: San Fransisco Bay Guardian
The post-9/11 hysteria over terrorist threats continues to the day, taking many forms. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is poised to give final approval on Tuesday 20th March to limitations on the SFPD's participation in the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, legislation that ever-vigilant Mayor Ed Lee may veto.
But it turns out there are already thousands of eyes on San Francisco's streets looking out for terrorists and their dreaded (and fabled) Weapons of Mass Destruction, something I learned today when the California Music and Culture Association announced a training it is sponsoring for nightclub security guards.
The training includes four hours of “power to arrest,” which makes sense. But it also includes another four hours of “WMDs & Terrorism Awareness,” which strikes me as paranoid to the point of lunacy. Are we seriously worried about a terrorist plot to destroy the godless heathens at the Makeout Room?
I didn't realize CMAC was so paranoid, so I contacted the organization and learned that this is actually a requirement under state law governing private security officers, passed in 2005 as legislation sponsored by Abel Maldonado, then a Republican Assembly member from Santa Maria. Yeah, that made a bit more sense. Right-wingers see terrorist plots everywhere.
So while the FBI (with or without SFPD's help) taps our phones and reads our mail, the bouncer at the club on the corner is keeping a watch out for suicide bombers disguised as ravers and dirty nukes hidden in DJ's record boxes. Gee, I feel so much safer now.
Source: Weekend Argus
Former nightclub security boss Richard van Zyl appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on intimidation charges last Friday, where his attorney accused the State of using delaying tactics to “severely prejudice” his client.
Van Zyl, manager of controversial Specialised Protection Services (SPS), which was effectively shut down last month for illegally supplying bouncers to about 200 Peninsula entertainment venues, was arrested last month after handing himself over to police. He allegedly threatened a bouncer, claiming that “harm” would come his way.
The bouncer, who had been fired from SPS and was stationed at a club in Plumstead, had apparently approached a Claremont club to offer them his protection services.
On Friday was Van Zyl’s second court appearance and his attorney Cornelius Smith was visibly irritated when it was indicated that more time was needed for the investigation.
Smith asked that if the matter was indeed postponed, it would be the final remand for investigation as “it is only my client who is being prejudiced”.
“We want to send a message that we are not going to play games in this court,” he said.
Smith added that Van Zyl had voluntarily surrendered his firearm, and that when the matter came before the court again, he wanted information on the tests that were performed on the weapon.
He also wanted an indication of when it would be returned to Van Zyl.
Smith said he felt sorry for the prosecutor as “ clearly, the investigating officers and other parties are not performing”.
Prosecutor Kagiso Kraai said statements had to be obtained from witnesses and that accusing the State of delays was “unjust”.
“It is only his second appearance and he is out on bail,” he said.
Van Zyl took over the running of the now defunct SPS following the arrest of the co-owners, millionaire businessman Mark Lifman and AndréNaudé last month. The company was found to not have registered with the Private Security Regulatory Authority.
Source: Daily Mail
A shocking video posted online of a 'gay man being held down and punched' outside a nightclub has caused fury across the internet. View video here
The footage was shot outside a West Hollywood nightclub and shows a man laying face down on the pavement, while one man, whop is believed to be a bouncer, shouts a homophobic remark at him as well as punching him twice.
One of the pair frequently shouts at the man to stay still, although the victim is not struggling and with his hands pulled behind his back, he is powerless to move.
The incident, on Santa Monica Boulevard and North Edinburgh Avenue, is reported to have taken place on February 25, across the street from the famous Voyeur nightclub, a spot popular with celebrities.
Bouncers do not have any more rights than citizens - if someone has done something wrong they can hold the person until the police arrive, which is essentially a citizen's arrest, but they can not physically assault someone, as this video appears to show.
In the short clip, the bald-headed man and another man hold down the victim while one of them accuses him of starting a fight.
'Look at my face man - they f***ed me up,' the victim protests.
One of two men holding him down shouts: 'F**k your face. I don't give a s**t about your face.'
To which the victim replies 'Trust me please I didn't start the s**t. I was with my boyfriend. I'm a gay boy.'
At that point the victim is punched once in the back of his head and again to the back of his head.
'Stop resisting,' one of the men says. 'Stay still motherf***er.'
Then one of the pair yells: 'Stop f***in' moving you c***sucker.'
Seconds later, a man, who is thought to be a security guard, walks up, and one of the men says to him, ‘Hey can we get some cuffs please.’
'Stay where you are motherf***er,' the victim is told. 'Shut up.'
One user who watched the video commented: 'Ah, the magical cry of 'stop resisting' as someone lays on the ground with their arms held tight, which allows a beating to be administered.'
Another user wrote 'It looks like private security. They are NOT skilled in detaining and cuffing someone at all. It is a disturbing video though. Language and physical hits were not necessary.'
Detective Mike Berbiar of the West Hollywood sheriff's station, told LA Weekly Blogs, the only person who was arrested at the scene was the man who was held down on the floor.
The man, identified as Timothy Reyes, is alleged to have assaulted five people inside Fubar, which is further along the street, before he was taken out and taken to the ground.
As Mr Berbiar understands it, a fight erupted over a jacket that the suspect thought was his, but apparently wasn't.
Some of those assaulted were bar staff who attempted to break up the fight, he said.
Mr Reyes was cited on suspicion of battery and public intoxication and released, the detective told the website.
The detective informed them he was not aware of the video or the bouncer's actions, but said he 'would definitely be interested in looking into it.'
The manager at Voyeur nightclub said to LA Weekly Blogs, that the bouncer was an employee of Fubar, which is down the block.
Source: Malta Times
There was no evidence to support the charge that a bouncer caused an immigrant serious injury that led to his death in 2009, defence counsel held yesterday.
In his final arguments, lawyer Emanuel Mallia spoke at length, punching holes in the case against 32-year-old Duncan Deguara, of Paola. He highlighted that, although two witnesses had said his client punched the victim, there was no medical evidence to back this up.
The case revolves around an incident in May 2009 when 28-year-old Suleiman Abubaker, from Darfur, was thrown out of Footloose nightclub in Paceville and then allegedly pushed to the ground by Mr Deguara.
Mr Abubaker fell unconscious a few minutes later and within days was dead from a fractured skull.
Two Frenchmen, who had testified during the compilation of evidence, said they saw the accused first punch and then push the victim to the ground.
Dr Mallia held that in all probability his client did not punch and push the victim but only pushed him, as all the other evidence clearly stated.
There was no physical evidence on the body of the victim to even suggest that he had been hit in the face or anywhere else by a punch.
The lawyer also pointed out that the victim had not fallen down once but also a second time, this being an accident, and it could not be proven whether the injuries resulted from the first or the second fall.
During the proceedings yesterday, the jurors asked Mr Justice Michael Mallia to visit the scene of the crime to get an idea of the area and the road where the incident took place.
The judge explained that, although the period of time withing which evidence could be presented to them was over, they could be taken there but could not ask questions to any witnesses.
The trial continues.
Source: The Spectrum
On Main Street last Friday night, a group of hulking men stood outside a bar. Their muscles bulged and their breath hung visibly in the cold air as they surveyed the scene: a long line of people against the building's side, most of them students with hopeful looks in their glassy, inebriated eyes.
Suddenly, there was a commotion. One of the huge men took a college student by the arm and dragged him away from the bar. As the rejected boy walked away, he rambled to himself angrily, and finally called out loud as he retreated: "these bouncers are f***ing dicks!"
WhileBouncers are notorious for their bad attitudes and oversized muscles, the Buffalo nightlife looks different through their eyes. Though they may seem like "spoilsports," standing silently and glaring at drunken college kids who are trying to enjoy themselves, they actually like to have fun, too, and many of them took the job in order to do just that. There is a side to these men that students do not often have a chance to see, and their stories and inside information provide a new perspective on the "guards of the bars."
The angry castaway student is not alone in his sentiment that the bouncers are not the sweetest guys around.
"One time, I saw a kid get knocked out [by a bouncer] that wasn't even doing anything, and just dragged out of the line at Northside," said Adam Wachler, a senior finance major. "It was really f***ed up, and way too much to do to a kid who wasn't even inside of the bar."
There are exceptions, however – not all bouncers are out to bring misery and frustration to the kids who go out. One of the biggest issues that causes people to think otherwise is IDs. Some bars, like Mojos, even require patrons to produce their college IDs before they can enter the bar, in addition to their legal IDs.
Patrick Eck, a junior legal studies major at UB, works as a bouncer at Mojos every Friday and Saturday night. He said the bouncers don't enforce these rules just to be annoying.
"We're not here to be dicks or hurt anyone's feelings or ruin anyone's night," Eck said. "At the same time, we have to be able to protect ourselves. Because of the neighborhood, we get a lot of people that would like to come in and cause problems, so we try to use the college ID policy just so we keep the college kids in here and keep it a fun place to be."
While Eck insists that he and his fellow bouncers have no bad intentions, sometimes the bar gets out of hand. In such situations, it's his job to keep things from escalating out of control and to diffuse the scene as quickly as possible. Of course, when talking doesn't help, sometimes the bouncers are forced to rely on their muscle.
"Week before last, a kid got thrown out and he was talking s**t, and then he made a bad comment about the owner…he got in [another bouncer's] face," Eck said. "[The bouncer] told the kid to walk, the cops told him to walk, but he didn't…and then he started throwing punches, and [the other bouncer] put him down on the ground – his face was bleeding and gushing."
Though the big, bloody altercations don't occur that often, the bouncers are always prepared for bizarre situations.
A bouncer at The Steer, who didn't want his name published, recalled the night last year when UB football player Scott Pettigrew was stabbed. Though it happened outside of Northside, this bouncer ended up playing a larger role in the situation than he expected.
"The kid who stabbed him came in here…they told us there was a kid in the bathroom wiping off blood everywhere, and then he tossed a knife out of his pocket," the bouncer said. "We caught him and brought him outside to the cops. That was pretty much the craziest thing I've been a part of."
Though it's usually the dramatic nights that stand out in the bouncers' heads, the best nights are the ones where they get to see their friends. Their job allows for them to see the friends they already have, and also introduces them to new people on a nightly basis.
Rasheed James, a bouncer at Northside, attributes his love for the job to the friendships he has made over the six years he has worked there. He refers to the kids he sees frequently as his family and dismisses any rowdy behavior by comparing it to the family squabbles everyone encounters. He is extremely popular among the bar's patrons, who greet him affectionately and can often be seen taking pictures with him or casually chatting with him throughout the night.
"Honestly, it's like, from freshman year to their senior year, you get close to them, and then you get to know what type of individuals they are," James said. "I went to a sorority house one night and I walked in the house and they all knew me, and being able to sit with them and hang out with them was one of my best memories."
Regardless of which bar they work at, it seems that the bouncers all have the same wishes for the people who frequent their establishments: to enter and have fun. The bar owners and bouncers are all aware that the crowd is college-aged, and therefore bars like Mojos and Northside are more lenient. According to their bouncers, there really is no reason for the problems that students face when trying to use fake IDs, since the bars are open to people 18 years and older, even though patrons obviously must be 21 to drink.
"We say just keep it real with us and we'll keep it real with you," James said. "We love all of the students, and all we want everyone to do is to bring the proper ID. Let's have fun. We're only here for a certain amount of time, so let's enjoy the time that we have."
Source: The Hindu
Eight bouncers have been arrested for allegedly beating up the chief security officer of a club and two of his friends outside a hotel in New Friends Colony here a fortnight ago. The two groups were involved in a long-standing tussle over friendship with a girl, the police said.
Bhupendra Nagar, a Chief Security Officer at a club in a South Delhi hotel, was on his way home along with his friends from the club on February 13 morning when the accused started following them in a Swift car. When Bhupendra and his friends tried to enter a hotel on their way, the accused waylaid them and beat them up.
Bhupendra and his friends, Vinod and Sharad, were injured in the incident and taken to a hospital after a call to the Police Control Room.
The accused were arrested on Friday from different parts of the Capital and its neighbouring areas. They have been identified as Anuj, Sandeep, Rocky, Boby, Manander, Sunder Pal, Devender and Satyawan. All the accused are bouncers in pubs and restaurants.
Source: Daily Voice
An illegal nightclub security company’s empire is slowly crumbling after two of their bosses were arrested.
And a third member of the controversial Specialised Protection Services (SPS) is expected to hand himself over to cops on Thursday.
The Daily Voice has learnt that controversial Sea Point businessman Mark Lifman arrived back in the country on Wednesday and is expected to hand himself over to the Hawks on Thursday morning.
The business, which has links to the city’s underworld, has been hit by a number of crucial arrests in recent weeks.
Chief Executive Officer André Naude was taken into custody earlier this month and charged with running an illegal security business
And on Wednesday the nightclub security company’s director, Andre van Zyl, was busted for allegedly terrorising a bouncer who threatened his business.
He appeared in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he faces a charge of intimidation.
Van Zyl was assigned the task of getting the company registered after Naude was arrested.
Naude was taken into custody for running an illegal security business in terms of the Private Security Industry Relation Act (PSIRA).
Part of his bail condition is that he is banned from conducting any security-related business.
A warrant of arrest was also issued for Naude’s business partner Lifman who was travelling through China on business at the time.
Lifman is expected to appear in court shortly.
And at the beginning of the month, cops, determined to clamp down on the Cape’s underworld and the illegal security industry, arrested 13 SPS bouncers.
The security men were rounded up when police raided several nightclubs in the city centre and they were taken into custody for allegedly not being registered with the necessary protection services authority.
Meanwhile, the charge against Van Zyl relates to an incident at Gonzo’s Pool Bar and Lounge in Plumstead earlier this month when the security boss allegedly threatened a bouncer.
The bouncer, who had worked for SPS before it was dissolved, had allegedly gone to the owner of Scarlet Lounge in Claremont and urged him to sign up with its old security company.
A source says that Van Zyl was furious when he heard what the bouncer did and went to see him.
“He went to Gonzo’s where he approached the bouncer and confronted him about what he (bouncer) was doing,” says the source.
“Van Zyl told the guy that he knew what he was up to and that he was messing around with André Naude, who was a dangerous man.”
On Wednesday, prosecutor Kagiso Kraai told the court that Van Zyl had gone to Gonzo’s on February 18 and “assured him (bouncer) of harm”.
“The accused works at a business that supplies security,” said Kraai.
“People who own nightclubs fear them and take serious any threats that are made by the security company.”
Kraai told Magistrate Sylvia Mandla that the State did not object to Van Zyl’s release on bail as long as strict bail conditions were set – he did not want Van Zyl to make any direct or indirect contact with the complainant or any State witnesses.
And he wanted the court to make it an order that Van Zyl is not to commit any offence related to PSIRA.
But Van Zyl’s lawyer Cornelius Smith objected, saying it was “petty”.
“The complainant works for a security company who is in direct competition with my client and the condition is petty,” said Smith.
“Any accused who is released on bail shouldn’t commit any offence anyway.”
But Kraai argued that it was necessary because Van Zyl was a high ranking figure in the nightclub security industry.
“This is a person who is at the top ranks of the industry and he should’ve known the act and what he shouldn’t do,” said Kraai.
Mandla set Van Zyl’s bail at R1 000.
Source: KOIN Local
A bouncer was fatally shot Sunday morning outside the front door of a popular Southeast Portland bowling alley.
Portland police said Robert Greene, 30, was shot just before 1:30 a.m. near the entrance of Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge, near Southeast 9th Avenue and Southeast Morrison Street.
Jonathan Kyle was having a beer at a nearby bar with friends when he heard what he described as "poppers or fireworks" but said he didn't think it was gunfire.
"All of a sudden people started coming out saying someone was dead," Kyle said.
Witnesses tell KOIN Local 6 they heard five gunshots Sunday morning.
Portland police said Greene died of a single gunshot wound, but did not say if this is considered a gang related shooting.
Detectives are asking anyone with information about last nights homicide to contact Detective Molly Daul at 503-823-0991.
Source: Sunday Independant
Nightclubs in Cape Town’s city centre have been forced to hire temporary security staff as they grapple with the effective shutdown of Specialised Protection Services (SPS), the company which provides protection to nearly 200 clubs, pubs and restaurants across the Peninsula.
Late on Friday night and in the early hours of yesterday, there was no sign of SPS bouncers dressed in their trademark black pants, black shirts and yellow ties at nightspots visited by the Weekend Argus.
This comes after the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court released SPS boss André Naudé on bail of R1 000 on Friday, on condition he did not violate the Private Security Industry Regulatory Act of 2001. SPS, it has emerged, is not legally registered as is required by the act.
He was arrested on Friday.
Various nightclubs, including Assembly in Harrington Street, 169 on Long and the Spacebar in Long Street continued to use SPS security guards, but they were not dressed in their official uniforms. These guards were among the few staff members individually registered, and thus in possession of legal permits to operate.
Among them on Friday night were two of the 13 SPS bouncers who were arrested last weekend, but then released without being charged.
One was working at Assembly and the other at Spacebar, which is owned by one of the SPS bosses, Mark Lifman. Lifman’s offices were raided by the police on Thursday after a warrant for his arrest was also issued. Lifman is, however, currently out of the country.
The bouncer at Assembly, where about 50 people queued at the door between 11pm and midnight on Friday, refused entry to several very drunk youngsters, and sent several other partygoers to the police station to get sworn statements that they were older than 18.
Mavericks strip club in Barrack Street had hired a temporary security guard while SPS was “sorting out their problems”, the unnamed host at the club said.
At Neighbourhood at 163 Long Street, no doormen were on duty. A clubgoer was trying to keep the peace at the door, chasing away someone he said was “looking for money for drugs”.
At the Fez in Mechau Street, which swarmed with SPS bouncers last month, there were no bouncers on duty around 2am. Clubgoers were entering and leaving freely and for free, without being searched.
Lifman and Naudé established SPS with the backing of alleged Sexy Boys gang leader Jerome Booysen in the vacuum left following the murder of Cyril Beeka, who together with Jacques Cronjé ran SPS’s predecessor, Pro-Security. Cronjé was also involved with SPS, but was fired this week for drug abuse.
Source: Wesh
A judge denied a self-defense claim Thursday morning that was made by attorneys representing the man accused of killing a bouncer at a downtown Orlando bar last year.
"The court finds that the state's exhibit in evidence is not a common pocket knife. He was not authorized by law to possess that at the time that he possessed it, so as such he was engaged in unlawful activity and is barred from claiming self defense of immunity," Judge Alan Apte said.
Craig Sandhaus' attorney argued that Sandhaus stabbed and killed the bouncer out of self-defense, and the defense of his brother. The judge ultimately decided the claim was insufficient.
At a hearing Wednesday, Sandhaus took the stand to explain the incident.
"My only instinct was to save my brother's life and to protect my brother," said Craig Sandhaus. "The only thing that I could possibly do was to stab Torres because I couldn't punch anybody or get anybody to stop him. I kept yelling 'Get him off my brother, get him off my brother.' Nobody would listen and it just turned into a brawl."
Police officers said the stabbing happened after Sandhaus and his brother, Eric Sandhaus, were asked to leave the Lodge bar. They got into a fight with bouncer Milton Torres in a back alley, according to investigators, and Torres was stabbed in the chest.
Initially, Eric Sandhaus was charged in the stabbing. Craig Sandhaus later came forward and confessed he was responsible.
Attorneys argued that Craig was justified in the killing, citing Florida's Stand Your Ground statute. They say he believed the bouncer and others involved in the fight were going to beat his younger brother to death.
Source: IOL News
Thirteen bouncers arrested at the weekend – after a clampdown on the industry – have been released and will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The suspects are aged 26 to 56.
The one man who was not released is being kept in jail because police are following up on a warrant for his arrest from 2002.
The clampdown on the industry is after the arrest of underworld boss Igor Russol, 40, and an accomplice last week. Police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk confirmed the pair were arrested for extortion and were due in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The two are accused of extorting R600 000 and a car from a local businessman.
Specialised Protection Services (SPS) senior bouncer Houssain Ait Taleb was released on R1 000 bail while the rest of the bouncers arrested at The Assembly and The Loop nightclubs were released on R500 bail each.
SPS is owned by Sea Point businessman Mark Lifman. When contacted for comment on Sunday, he said: “Don’t call my number again. You guys have been given the message.”
It is alleged that a further six clubs were raided but the police would not confirm this.
The SPS bouncers were arrested for violating the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, by not being licensed as legitimate providers of security services. Taleb was arrested for “pointing a firearm”.
Regulation is run by the Private Security Industry Regulation Authority (PSIRA).
After the arrests, it is alleged that Nigerians moved into the areas left vacant by the arrested bouncers.
Late on Friday, The Assembly posted a notice on its Facebook page, saying it had been forced to close because of a police raid.
“We apologise to all our loyal supporters for having to close tonight. The City of Cape Town arrested our security team and for safety reasons we could not trade without them,” they wrote.
Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said the operation had been carried out by the SAPS. “We are concerned about individuals posing as security officers and being deployed at city night spots to supposedly protect patrons.
“The South African Police Services will not tolerate a stronghold in our city over our nightspots. Individuals who pose as security officers without being compliant with the law will be dealt with. Similar operations will be conducted in due course,” he said.
It is understood that the SPS has taken over security services in 183 entertainment venues in the city, the northern and southern suburbs, along with most entertainment venues in Stellenbosch, without PSIRA essential registration.
This could leave the company’s directors, Mark Lifman and André Naudé, vulnerable to hefty fines and blacklisting from the industry.
As well as companies, the act requires all security personnel, bosses as well as foot-soldiers, to be registered and accredited by PSIRA.
Only people without criminal records may operate as security providers in terms of the act.
The authority’s spokeswoman, Maggie Moroaswi, confirmed that SPS was not registered nor had it applied for accreditation.
“PSIRA is investigating the alleged contravention of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act by Specialised Protection Services. Everyone that intends to render a security-related service must be registered with PSIRA before such services are offered,” Moroaswi said.
The management of several Cape Town clubs have said they had been intimidated to sign on to SPS in what more than one described as a classic underworld protection racket scenario unfolding around them, in which a failure to pay up would be met with either the threat or the reality of violence on the premises.
Clubs that opted to employ their own doormen were nevertheless required to pay so-called “management fees” to SPS for “keeping the streets clean”.
Venues pay from R250 a week to R25 000 a month for SPS’s services. Some said this was simply because it wasn’t worth it to refuse.
The establishment of SPS comes in the wake of the assassination of Cyril Beeka, previously the kingpin in club protection in Cape Town.
Source: WSO
The bouncer at a Rockingham night club was charged with voluntary manslaughter after he was restraining someone in a headlock and accidentally choked them to death.
Kaleb Gabril McDonald, 23, was trying to break up an argument involving 36-year-old David Terrill Malloy and another person at Club P3 on East Broad Avenue, police said.
According to police, McDonald put Malloy in a hold to subdue him and it killed him.
The incident report states Malloy was found lying on the floor by the pool table with his eyes open and his lips moving.
EMS was called.
According to police, a woman identifying herself as a nurse determined Malloy had no pulse and started CPR on the man.
Malloy was taken to First Health Richmond Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
McDonald was arrested and taken to the Richmond County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
A court hearing Monday reduced the bond amount to $50,000.
Source: IOL News
With a single raising of an arm, the oncoming traffic in busy Long Street comes to a halt.
This is how martial arts expert Houssain Ait Taleb, a powerful figure in Cape Town’s bouncer industry, crosses the street, epitomising the power and respect he commands when he patrols the city centre at night.
He is so well known in Long Street, he can sit outside one establishment and order drinks from another without raising any eyebrows.
Taleb, better known as Houssain Moroccan, previously headed a group of bouncers under slain businessman Cyril Beeka’s notorious and violent club security regime in the 1990s.
Disgusted with what he was once part of, he says he disentangled himself from the industry about a decade ago and rarely sets foot in the city centre.
But recently this has changed.
Taleb has resurfaced in the bouncer industry and now works for Specialised Protection Services (SPS) – set up after Beeka’s murder in March last year and an amalgamation of two rival companies.
Most week nights and every weekend, he patrols Long Street from the evening to the early hours of the morning, when it transforms from a vibrant business hub to a thriving strip of nightclubs.
Taleb keeps an eye on SPS bouncers and watches out for any illegal activities.
He says he is nothing like the person he was when he worked under Beeka.
“That was the past. That time I go home and I can’t sleep. I didn’t like what I was seeing. Now I go home and sleep,” Taleb says.
He arrived in SA in 1994 as a martial arts fighter and began training South African boxers.
Taleb says he was so good that he was given a work permit so he could continue churning out champion boxers.
He then got involved in club security and worked with Beeka.
In a previous interview with the Cape Times, Taleb said Beeka’s tactic to take over clubs had been to give bouncers lots of alcohol. When they were drunk, Beeka would take them to a specific club where he would send them in to trash the establishment and beat anyone who got in their way.
Beeka would then offer the club owner protection to prevent further attacks.
Some of the bouncers were Moroccan and somehow this term was applied to all bouncers and their associates.
“At that time, everyone was called Moroccan. Even Cyril was called Moroccan,” Taleb says.
Since those days, he has given up drinking alcohol, has embraced religion and focuses on his passion for martial arts.
During an interview in Long Street on Saturday night, while Taleb is on the job, he says there are now seven “Moroccans” involved in the city bouncer scene.
“We are not mafia. We are a brotherhood … We protect each other.”
But Taleb doesn’t want to speak about the past tonight.
Dressed in a neat black suit, white shirt and black tie, he cuts a professional figure as he briskly patrols the street amid clubgoers.
He insists his suit is cheap.
“I love to be poor. I ask God to keep me poor because money is evil.”
A number of clubgoers, club owners and Central City Improvement District officers shout greetings to Taleb as he patrols the street.
He has been instrumental in arresting a number of suspects and usually carries a camera to take photographs of them so he can identify suspects in future.
Taleb has a few secret weapons up his sleave – he can speak a few languages, including Afrikaans, which often throws people off and endears him to them. “Ek kan dit baie goed praat (I can speak it really well),” he says proudly.
Taleb points out suspected drug dealers skulking in the shadows and says criminals often fool tourists, selling them Panado tablets or even small bundles of toilet paper instead of drugs.
He says pickpocketing has become a big problem in Long Street.
As Taleb walks from club to club, he warmly greets bouncers, who smile when they see him.
The bouncers at nearly all the clubs in Long Street are dressed in black uniforms with yellow ties – the signature look of SPS security.
Taleb says he decided to work with SPS because he wanted to help make Long Street become a safer place.
“One message I want to send to any drug dealer, gangster or pickpocket is that you’re not welcome here.
“I’ll be here all the time. I’m not scared. I’ll take a bullet if I have to.” - Cape Times
Source: China Daily
Lawmaker calls for new department to supervise the city's 100,000 mentally ill
Monday's slaying of a doorman, at the hands of a mental patient wielding a chopper, has led to a call for the city to set up a special department and a comprehensive policy for dealing with more than 100,000 mental patients.
The call, by social welfare sector lawmaker Cheung Kwok-che, follows the death of a 57-year-old security doorman at Choi Wah House, Choi Yuen Estate. The suspect was a 53-year-old man previously certified with mental illness.
There are dearth of medical specialists and care assistants in the city. The Hospital Authority is now pushing a plan in which case managers follow individual cases of mental patients in Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong and Yuen Long. But there are only about 90 case managers now.
Monday's slaying occurred after the suspect attacked the doorman, striking him on the head and neck as the victim tried to defend himself and break free, Chief Inspector Tong Yiu-chung told the press.
The suspect caught up to the fleeing victim. There was a struggle. The doorman eventually was flung to the ground, chopped multiple times and killed outright.
The suspect's family found him holding a chopper, his clothes stained with blood and called police. In preliminary examination, the suspect told an attending physician that he had "illusion". He has been escorted by the police from the North District Hospital to the Castle Peak Hospital. Police later classified the slaying as murder.
Records revealed the suspect had been involved in six domestic violence cases between 2008 and 2010. All had been classified as minor.
The Social Welfare Department said the suspect was a mental patient at the North District Hospital under constant requirement to take medication. He had been living with his wife and three adults sons. His last visit to the hospital was on Jan 3.
The department said counseling had been offered to the suspect and his wife during the past few years.
In May 2010, a 42-year-old mental patient killed two and injured three within 15 minutes at a public housing estate in Kwai Chung. In May 2009, a 39-year-old man with mental illness attacked his neighbors - a father with his three-year-old son - the son was killed, and the father seriously injured.
Lawmaker Cheung said that there has always been hindrance within the neighborhood when non-governmental organizations attempt to set up rehabilitation centers inside the community, due to widespread preconception.
Source: Reuters
Punching, kicking and having bottles smashed on her head are standard daily fare for Sun Yiyao as she pursues her dream of becoming a bodyguard.
The 22-year-old is one of a small, select group of Chinese women training to become protectors for wealthy businesswomen and their families as demand grows steadily in the face of a widening wealth gap, which makes safety a prime concern for some of China's richest citizens.
"In China, the market for male bodyguards is growing steadily. However, a social and market preference for female bodyguards has increased since last year," said Chen Yongqing, manager at the Tianjiao Special Guard and Security Company in Beijing.
"Many female entrepreneurs, celebrities and pop stars -- as well as their family members, children and parents -- all need female bodyguards for protection. So we are particularly focusing on training female bodyguards from this year."
Around 30 percent of China's millionaires are women, according to the Hurun Report, which publishes an annual China rich list.
In testimony to the rising profile of female bodyguards, Faye Wong, a pop singer from Hong Kong, was escorted by both male and female guards at a recent Beijing charity event.
Sun is one of 10 women picked from 20 candidates for a four-week initiation course at the Tianjiao school, which also offers eight-month courses of stamina training, martial arts, reconnaissance, escorting skills, language and business etiquette.
The women, dressed in camouflage, practice sparring and kicking and learn how to disarm attackers wielding guns or knives.
Stoically, they stand in a line as an instructor smashes bottles over their heads as part of endurance training. Glass flies, but the women barely flinch.
Trainees must also hone their driving skills, Chen said.
"To protect an important person, special driving skills are indispensable. Driving takes up to 40 percent of the time during our missions, because the person we protect is always linked to the car when they are not working or resting," he added.
Graduates of the course can look forward to a well-paid career with a minimum monthly salary of 5,000 yuan, often earning much more than their male counterparts.
Pride also plays a role, with Sun saying she was eager to break stereotypes.
"In China, women are seen as a vulnerable group, and society always looks down on them," she said.
"However, almost everyone looks at a female bodyguard in a different way. As a woman, I'm very proud to be able to protect a man or even a group of people."
Source: MN Daily
Greta Huff was trying to go to a bar to celebrate her friend’s 21st birthday when she was faced with the cold, hard truth that she wasn’t of-age herself.
The bouncer at Blarney Pub and Grill took her fake ID.
“They told me it was horrible,” Huff said, holding up an Ohio license with her picture on it. “But I think it looks pretty good.”
Huff, 19, said she bought the ID on the Internet for $30 and would use it to get into bars in Madison, where she attends the University of Wisconsin.
The security staff at Blarney gave Huff the ID back, but she said she wouldn’t be using it again that night.
“We’re just going to try to go to a different party,” she said as her friends slowly trickled out of the bar.
The first weekend into spring semester saw most of the Dinkytown bars with a steady stream of patrons.
At the Library Bar and Grill, a tall, burly man checked IDs as the line wrapped out and around the side of the building.
“I’ve never seen one of these before,” he said to a customer before winking and waving him through.
At the Kitty Cat Klub, Clint Mahkimetas, the “door guy,” sat at a podium swiping cards as music blared and people danced behind him.
Mahkimetas, 39, has been working at the Kitty Cat Klub for more than six years. He said people have the wrong idea of bar security staff.
“I’m not standing here with my muscles bulging,” Mahkimetas said. “I read books.”
He said his job isn’t to intimidate customers.
“I’m the first line of defense, but I’m also the face of the place,” Mahkimetas said. “I take a lot of pride that I set up an area to make people feel a part of something special.”
More goes into the job than standing at the door and checking identification. Many bars have staff members complete alcohol service training at least once a year.
Training is conducted on-site and mainly consists of teaching staff to recognize fake IDs and customers who are too drunk to be served.
Ben Gisselman of Alcohol Liability Education Training said he discusses specific laws, like the dram shop law, which holds bars accountable when customers who drink too much get in an accident or cause other damage.
The staff is taught how to recognize valid identification. The staff also learns the signs of someone who is “overly intoxicated,” including slowed or slurred speech, trouble standing or walking and poor coordination.
The training can last anywhere from one to three hours and runs bar owners hundreds of dollars on top of paying employees for attending.
But to bars, the cost is worth it for liability reasons.
Greg Pillsbury, owner of Burrito Loco Bar and Grill in Dinkytown, said the $600 a session is expensive, “but it’s worth it.”
“It’s about safety and liability.”
The training isn’t required by the city of Minneapolis in order to hold a liquor license. But Pillsbury said his insurance company requires the training at least once a year to qualify for liability insurance.
Not all insurance companies require the training, but Gisselman, who has been holding training sessions since 2002, said it might depend on where the bar is located.
“I have a feeling that [insurance companies] are more apt to require it in neighborhoods like [Dinkytown],” Gisselman said, “because they know he’s going to encounter people who have had too much to drink because of the campus environment.”
Gisselman said, for the same reason, he will adjust his training depending on the area.
Mahkimetas said that while he learned a lot simply by doing his job, the training gave him the language he needs when trying to calm a disgruntled customer.
“You never insult the customer by telling them they are too drunk,” he said. “You instead say something like, ‘I believe you’ve been over-served.’”
He said he’s never had to physically force a customer out — “I have been 100 percent successful in talking people out that door,” he said.
Pillsbury said he chooses security staff members that are friendly and smart, not necessarily big. He said the best security staff member he has had wasn’t more than 5 feet 8 inches tall.
“We had people bringing in IDs from Canada,” Pillsbury said. So the bouncer would write the Canadian prime minister’s name on his arm and quiz guests on it.
Mahkimetas said he thinks people think all security staff members are big, burly men who want to start a fight.
“I think there’s a big difference between what people think my job is and what it really is,” Mahkimetas said. “A majority of people think the age of 21 is the only reason I’m here.”
Mahkimetas said he has less trouble with fake IDs than he does with people who don’t understand the rules about valid identification. He’s turned away many people who will argue that because they’re over 21 it doesn’t matter.
“Some people think because they’re 70 they don’t need ID,” he said. “Selling alcohol to people has a whole different set of standards. Things can happen, and I’m liable.”
Source: The Cap Times
A Madison man and his brother were arrested early Sunday morning after one of the men allegedly used a stun gun to shock a security guard and the other man allegedly was throwing punches outside a downtown bar.
The arrests were made at about 2:30 a.m. outside Logan's Madtown Bar, 322 W. Johnson St., according to a news release from Madison police.
Yonatan Mendoza-Rodriguez, 27, was tentatively charged with battery, disorderly conduct and possession of an electric weapon, and his brother Miguel Mendoza-Rodriguez, 26, was tentatively charged with disorderly conduct.
The incident apparently started when a "rowdy" crowd started exiting the bar.
"One bouncer heard several men yelling and arguing in Spanish," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "Some of the men were saying something about guns or pistols."
Responding officers arrested Miguel Mendoza-Rodriguez for allegedly throwing punches at another man, while Yonatan Mendoza-Rodriguez went to jail on the stun gun possession and other charges.
The bouncer who was zapped said the stun gun had been pushed into his arm three times.
"He was trying to keep the peace when he heard a sparking sound," DeSpain said. "He could see the electrical current coming from the weapon."
The bouncer wasn't injured, thanks to the thick leather jacket he was wearing.
A stun gun is similar to a Taser in that it discharges high voltage to incapacitate an individual, but a stun gun has to be pressed against someone to be effective while a Taser has electrically-charged prods attached by wire to the Taser handle, the prods fired under air pressure up to 30 feet to disable a person.
Source: Guardian Media
A bouncer who was charged after he refused a policeman free entry into a nightclub has been awarded $61,500 in damages.
Garville Mitchell, of Reform, Gasparillo, won his lawsuit against the State before Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee in the Port of Spain Supreme Court. Through his attorney Kevin Ratiram, he sued for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Mitchell, in his affidavit, recalled that around 10.30 pm on February 3, 2006, he was on duty at a nightclub in La Romaine.
He said PC Derrick Nathan, who smelt strongly of alcohol, attempted to enter the club without paying. He said he was unaware that Nathan, who was dressed in plain clothes, was a policeman. Mitchell said Nathan became verbally abusive after he was told that he would have to pay the cover charge, and informed him that he was a policeman. Shortly after, Mitchell said, Nathan was joined by PC Fairly, dressed in plain clothes, and a woman. They also became verbally abusive. He said shortly after a marked police vehicle pulled up and two policeman alighted. He was subsequently arrested.
Mitchell said he was taken to the San Fernando Police Station where he was subsequently charged with obscene language. He was released at 1 pm the following day. Mitchell said on December 12, 2007 the charge was dismissed by a San Fernando magistrate. Attorney Monica Smith represented the State.
Source: Lehigh Valley Live
An Allentown man pleaded guilty to twice selling heroin in Bethlehem while he was free on bail for pointing a gun at a bouncer a few months earlier, police said.
Anthony Otero, 22, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and two counts of delivering drugs in two separate cases this morning. Judge Anthony Beltrami accepted the plea but rescheduled his sentencing until March when a pre-sentencing investigation report could be done.
Otero, of the 200 block of Nelson Street, was first arrested in the early morning hours of July 22. Authorities said he had been kicked out of the bar Roosevelt's 21st in the first block of East Elizabeth Avenue for arguing with his ex-girlfriend around midnight. He returned about an hour later, and the bouncer who first removed him from the bar told him he was still not welcome.
Police said Otero then pulled out a loaded Smith and Wesson .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun and put it against the bouncer's stomach. The bouncer yelled that Otero had a gun, and Otero fled. A police officer at the bar chased and caught him. Otero was eventually released on $75,000 bail.
Police said Otero twice sold heroin to a police informant while he was out on bail. He was arrested on Oct. 19 and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to court documents.
Source: Fraser Coast Chronicle
A young mother who punched and spat on a bouncer at a Hervey Bay night club was given a prison sentence yesterday.
Londell Louise Bonner, 23, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court, with her 15-month baby at her side.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jeanette Grigoris said Bonner was refused alcohol and escorted out of Rumaz Niteclub on July 15 last year, when she attacked the security guard who showed her the door.
Bonner punched the bouncer in the head before spitting in his face, Snr Const Grigoris said.
Bonner's legal representative, Sarah Laikind, said the night in question was the first time her client had been out since the birth of her child, and was the first time she had had a drink in a long time.
Ms Laikind said Bonner fell asleep at her table and then got angry at what she felt was unnecessary force in removing her from the club.
Magistrate Graeme Tatnell was disgusted by the offence, saying that spitting on someone was "just atrocious".
However, he accepted that Bonner had a chance to turn her life around with her new responsibility as a mother and with a place in the University of Southern Queensland for this year.
He imposed a six-month prison sentence on Bonner, but allowed her immediate parole to walk from the court house.
"Take this opportunity and get on with your life," Mr Tatnell told the relieved young mother.
Source: Sun Times
Taiwan Smith was thrown out of the Victor Hotel nightclub for fighting before he came back to the Near West Side bar and opened fire, killing two people on Christmas Day, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.
After shooting his weapon at least 15 times near the entrance of the club, Smith, 26, stood over the wounded body of bouncer Robert Warren and shot him at point blank range, Assistant State’s Attorney Jamie Santini said.
Santini didn’t say whether it was 34-year-old Warren who had asked Smith and the others to leave when they started fighting near the club’s exit early Sunday.
But the prosecutor said Smith, apparently angry, went to a parked car, retrieved his gun and returned to the club, in the 300 block of North Sangamon.
Also killed in the gunfire outside the establishment was factory worker Jose Duckins, who had been celebrating his 30th birthday.
Duckins’ friend, 21-year-old Damoni Sims, was shot in the right arm.
Smith fled the scene, but officers caught up to him at Jackson and California where they saw him drop a 9mm handgun, Santini said. When he was arrested after a brief foot chase, Smith allegedly told police, “What’s the problem? Just left the club.”
Smith’s attorney Edward Austin contended that there were other shooters involved.
But Santini said Smith was identified in a physical lineup, admitted his role in the shootings to detectives and tested positive for gunshot residue on his right hand. A ballistics test also tied the 15 shell casings recovered from the scene to the handgun Smith was seen tossing to the ground, Santini added.
The McDonald’s employee and expectant father has several felony convictions. He was most recently paroled in June after serving nearly three years of a six-year sentence for narcotics possession.
“You are a dangerous individual,” Judge Adam Bourgeois told Smith before denying him bail Wednesday.
Smith, of the 3200 block of West Arthington, has been charged with two counts of murder, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon
Source: Canberra Times
Thousands of NSW bouncers are abusing a loophole in the national security licensing system to obtain crowd controller accreditation under relatively slack ACT training requirements.
Bouncers from Sydney and elsewhere in NSW have flocked in large numbers to get crowd controller licences in the ACT over the past four years, figures obtained by The Canberra Times show.
NSW Police believe many of these bouncers are seeking to avoid strict workplace assessments, supervision requirements and on-the-job training in their home state.
Bouncers undergo a similar level of training in both the ACT and NSW, and a person can typically apply to work as a bouncer after about seven days of classroom training, a police check, and a commitment from an employer for work.
But, unlike in the ACT, crowd controllers in NSW are forced through a 12-month provisional period, requiring them to work under ''prescribed levels of supervision'', and undergo practical training by more experienced security staff.
They are also subjected to two separate workplace assessments conducted by a registered trainer in the first year of work.
In a bid to avoid the NSW licensing scheme, 1204 NSW residents have travelled to the ACT to obtain their security licence since the start of last year, according to figures from the Directorate of Justice and Community Safety.
A legal loophole that sits within the Mutual Recognition Act allows these bouncers to transfer their ACT security licence back to NSW, thereby avoiding the 12-month provisional period and other NSW-specific legal requirements.
The number of security workers abusing the system has skyrocketed in recent years.
In 2006, just 70 security workers applied to have an ACT licence transferred to NSW, according to figures from NSW Police. That number jumped to 1065 by 2010, a more than 15-fold increase.