
Source: Herald Sun
A NATIONWIDE police hunt is on to find two fugitive brothers accused of being part of a machete attack in which a bouncer's foot was almost severed.
Warrants have been issued for the arrests of 20-year-old Thanh Cong Nguyen and his brother Thanh Tam Nguyen, 22, from Keilor in Melbourne's northwest
The pair have fled since the attack last month and police believe they may be travelling together.
Police believe they may be travelling in the older brother's 2009 Toyota Yaris with registration number XFG 746.
Three men have so far been charged over the vicious attack at the Bubble nightclub in Melbourne on November 22.
A gang of up to 20 men attacked security staff with machetes and bouncer Ahmad Chokr almost lost a foot.
Chris Lay, 21, and Phu Hieu Nguyen, 19, are each charged with various serious assault offences and have been remanded to appear in court again in March.
A 20-year-old man and 19-year-old man have also been charged over the attack.
Source: Mercury
Police reminded local bar owners this fall that more than liquor licenses are needed to run their watering holes.
Guelph Police Service revealed Monday it and members of the investigation and enforcement unit of the private security and investigative services branch of the OPP executed Project Red Tiger on Sept. 18 and found four businesses were in violation of the Private Security and Investigative Services Act (PSISA).
The PSISA requires security industry workers, including security guards, private investigators, bodyguards, bouncers and loss prevention personnel, to be licensed under the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Under the act, any business entity, including bars, that employs its own in-house security personnel, but is not in the business of selling security services, is required to register with the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch.
During the sweep officers checked eight bars throughout the city. Four businesses were found in violation of the PSISA.
Van Gogh’s Ear, Frank & Steins, the Manor and Vinyl/Jimmy Jazz were all charged with employing unlicensed security guards.
On Dec. 2, representatives from Van Gogh’s Ear, Vinyl/Jimmy Jazz and Frank & Steins appeared in Guelph Provincial Court, pleaded guilty to the charges and each received a $305.00 fine. They have 30 days to pay the fine.
The Manor charge was put over to Jan. 20.
Calls and emails to owners and managers of all four establishments were not returned Monday.
Officers conducted followup bar checks at 10 locations in the downtown core Nov. 26. They found 33 of 36 security guards checked were found to be in compliance with the PSISA.
Two security guards from Apartment 58 and one from Frank & Steins were charged with working as an unlicensed security guard.
“We’re glad to see we found so many in compliance,” Guelph Police Service communications officer Sgt. Doug Pflug said. “It’s nice to see a huge buy-in and compliance with the act.”
During the followup, Frank & Steins and Apartment 58 were also charged with failing to register their business under the PSISA.
The PSISA came into force as law Aug. 23, 2007. Under the act, bouncers must apply for a security guard license, which requires the individual be 18 years old, consent to a background check and provide employment history, a passport photo and the signature of a guarantor. The applicant must also pay $80 per year for his or her licence.
And any business that employs in-house security must pay an annual $80 registration fee.
A spokesperson for the Private Security and Investigative Services Branch could not be reached for comment. But the ministry’s website says act helps “professionalize the security industry, increase public safety and ensure that practitioners received proper training and are qualified to provide protective services.”
However, no training is required in order to apply for the licence.
“At the end of the day, we hope projects like this ensure public safety,” Pflug said. “We have a lot of people coming downtown each weekend and we want their safety to be there.”
The collaborative effort came to be at the request of the OPP’s private security and investigative services branch.
“We’re going to continue working with that group. And based on their availability, we’ll bring them in again,” Pflug said.
According to the ministry’s website, there are more than 64,000 licensed security guards and private investigators in Ontario and approximately 520 licensed agencies in the province providing security guard and private investigation services.
Pflug said there is one establishment in Guelph that elects to use paid, off-duty police officers as well as in-house security.
“It’s nice to see the establishment take the extra step in safety,” he said.
Source: Radio Fiji
The use of unlawful force on nightclub patrons by bouncers is something that Fiji Police will be keeping an eye out for, during this festive season.
This is after several complaints and concerns have been raised with Police concerning the amount of force nightclub bouncers usually use on patrons.
Assistant Superintendent Urai Torau from the Central Police Station says they met with nightclubs securities and owners on Monday regarding this issue, especially in Suva nightclubs.
“Suva already declare Crime Free City on Dec 14th and right now we working on our campaign towards main declaration day on 31st Dec and that is exactly what we are doing with security officers,” said Torau.
“Another precaution measure that we have been discussing is about security officers of nightclubs is the use of unlawful force to customers attending to night clubs,” he said.
Apart from this, Torau says they want to ensure that the nightclub scene in Suva is safe and crime free too.
Source: The Telegraph
Twelve people have
been killed and more than 30 injured in a shooting rampage by US soldiers at a military base in Texas.
One of the soldiers who carried out the massacre on the sprawling Fort Hood base, the largest American military installation in the world, was shot dead by police.
He had walked into a training centre armed with two handguns and opened fire on fellow military personnel who were having last minute medical and dental checks before being deployed to Afghanistan.
Gun fire later erupted around the base as two alleged accomplices were captured.
One of them had holed himself up in a brain injury unit where he was surrounded by SWAT teams. Four police officers were wounded before he was arrested.
More than 500 soldiers were deployed to lock down Fort Hood as helicopters hovered overhead.
Base commander Lieutenant General Bob Cone said: "It has been a terrible tragedy, it's stunning. We are absolutely devastated.
"The shooter was killed. He was a soldier. We since then have apprehended two additional soldiers who are suspects.
"There were eyewitness accounts that there may have been more than one shooter." The massacre took place in the Soldier Readiness Centre which is located in a former sports dome.
As well as soldiers about to be deployed, those returning and undergoing medical screening would have been there.
It happened shortly before a graduation ceremony for soldiers was due to start at the base.
President Barack Obama, speaking in Washington, said it was a "horrific outburst of violence." He said: "These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk, and at times give, their lives to protect us.
"It's difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women overseas. It is horrifying when we lose them on American soil." Fort Hood is one of the US's premier installations for training heavy forces and tens of thousands of soldiers go through every year, many heading to Afghanistan.
It covers an area of 15 square miles near Killeen, some 50 miles from Waco, Texas.
There are up to 50,000 people, including families, on the site at any one time.
Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said: "Our dedicated military personnel have sacrificed so much in service to our country and it sickens me that the men and women of Fort Hood have been subjected to this senseless, random violence."
Local congressman John Carter said: "I had a man on the scene, who is the former chaplin at Fort Hood.
He was waiting to go to a graduation ceremony when a soldier came running up to him saying somebody was shooting. He heard small arms and some rifle fire." Fort Hood has also been working to rehabilitate many soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, Mr Carter said.
Base commanders and the Pentagon said they had no early indication of a motive for the shootings.
The base has seen other violence in recent years. In September last year a 21-year-old 1st Cavalry Division soldier shot his lieutenant to death and then killed himself.
Source: Chronicle Herald
Bouncers at bars and private security guards will soon need licences to do their job.
Justice Minister Ross Landry said such workers will be screened and properly trained to do their work and ensure the public is kept safe under a bill introduced Monday at Province House.
"In previous years we have heard about incidents in our bars where patrons have been injured, where private security guards themselves have been injured," Mr. Landry said in Halifax.
If passed, the new requirements will mean that bouncers and other security workers will be able to change workplaces without needing a new licence.
Licences will remain valid for several years.
After the bill becomes law, the province will work on a series of rules for security workers that will include standards for how they behave, Mr. Landry said.
The new rules should help reassure the public that they’re safe against the use of excessive force by burly bouncers with bad attitudes, he said.
"We know in policing that it’s not about brute strength today. It’s about understanding your role and responsibilities.
"The most important muscle any person in security or in law enforcement uses is their tongue, is to communicate, is to talk. That communication is critical."
A former bouncer at a downtown Halifax bar this summer was acquitted of aggravated assault stemming from a dispute with a patron.
Jarrett Simmons, 21, was working the door at Cheers Bar and Grill in the early morning hours of Dec. 20, 2007, when he got into a scuffle with an ejected customer who wanted to go back into the bar for his jacket.
Michael Carpenter, 46, was punched in the jaw by Mr. Simmons and fell and struck his head on the pavement on Grafton Street, losing consciousness. He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax with severe head injuries.
Mr. Simmons, of Young Street in Halifax, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault. He stood trial in May in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax.
In another incident, Stephen Giffin, 38, was found sprawled in the parking lot of Captain Eli’s Restaurant and Lounge on Dec. 23, 1999. He was hospitalized but taken off life-support that Christmas Day.
Bar manager Roni Peter Labi and bouncer George Joseph MacDonald were charged with manslaughter. A jury acquitted them in 2001.
The new bill, unveiled Monday and titled An Act Respecting the Provision of Security and Investigative Services, will replace one that hasn’t been updated in 35 years.
Source: Typically Spanish.com
It happened around 7am on Sunday morning, outside the ‘Central Rock’ disco, causing some scenes of panic, and the alleged 31 year old aggressor was arrested some hours afterwards.
Europa Press quotes Guardia Civil sources saying one man was shot in the leg and the other in the arm, but neither is considered to be seriously hurt.
The arrested man is a 31 year old Dominican man, named with the initials V.S. who is in Spain legally and who lives in Almoradí. He has a previous record for drug trafficking.
Source: Google
A gang member fresh out of prison works the door of a Providence nightclub. Officers in San Diego arrest a bouncer accused of beating and bloodying a drunken patron. In New York City, a parolee hired to protect clubgoers sexually assaults and kills one.
Most bouncers carry clean records and do their jobs without incident, but many cities say the bad apples are spoiling the nightlife barrel. Providence is the latest trying to license bouncers, hoping to train them better, ease police workloads and erase their image as thugs on a power trip.
"How can you have a violent person being your security guard to handle problems in rational, calm way? You can't," said Robert Smith, a San Diego police detective and president and CEO of Nightclub Security Consultants. "I don't care if you're running the biggest dance club in the country. Better trained people do a better job."
Under the ordinance, bouncers would be required to get a license, complete a criminal background check, and undergo training to recognize fake IDs, avoid fights and block drunken partiers from entering clubs.
Some club owners and bouncers are skeptical, saying that cities should let owners manage their own clubs and that extra training for bouncers is an unnecessary expense.
"It's all in the management and how you want to run your establishment," said Brian Silva, general manager of the Roxy Providence, who said he supports background checks but not city-mandated training. "If you let punks in, you're going to have to deal with them."
Supporters of the Providence City Council's proposal say it would professionalize the industry and make the job of police easier by curbing violence that can occur when bar patrons empty into the streets after a night of drinking.
Providence police said that at least 35 bouncers have been implicated in on-the-job assaults in the past five years, and that two have been stabbed in the last two months.
Officers also said they found a gang member, a former leader of the Almighty Latin Kings Nation, recently released from prison and working the door of a club. They alerted the owner, who said he didn't know his employee's background, and the bouncer was fired.
In New York City, after a Boston woman was sexually assaulted and killed after a night of drinking in 2006, the city required security guards to undergo background checks, training and registration. Bouncer Darryl Littlejohn, a parolee with a long criminal history, was convicted Wednesday of murder in the death of 24-year-old Imette St. Guillen.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved legislation in 2007 that requires job-specific training for all security workers in California, including bouncers.
Smith started his consultant company after arresting the San Diego bouncer on a battery charge and finding that training requirements didn't exist for nightclub security. He has worked with officials in Providence; Boulder, Colo.; and Washington, D.C., and will help write the security guard training curriculum in California.
While other city officials have praised Smith's training, they have chosen not to mandate the process. Skip Coburn, executive director of the D.C. Nightlife Association, said that the city has been successful with voluntary training sessions but that their cost will likely keep them from becoming mandatory.
"In D.C., we don't even license bartenders," Coburn said. "A lot of people viewed it as a ploy for government to charge another $100 for a piece of stuff. That might be one of the reasons why the training is not considered."
Sarah Huntley, spokeswoman for the Boulder Police Department, said the city's two bouncer training classes were paid for by a grant; mandating the class would become too expensive for the city because no one locally has the training expertise.
Providence has required bouncers to register with the city and wear ID badges since 1999, but officials say registration was difficult to enforce.
Alvin Lipsett, a 6-foot-4 doorman at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, a popular concert venue in downtown Providence, was one of about 30 bouncers to attend an October training session with Smith.
"They pretty much taught us that beating the crap out of someone isn't the answer when you have a problem at your club," said Lipsett, who has worked at Lupo's for five years. He said he would have no problem with the city's proposed ordinance, adding, "I think of myself as more of a negotiator than a bouncer."
But Teddy Fulton, the head bouncer at Snookers Pool Lounge, said that he and the other bouncers have registered with the city and that paying $50 for a two-year license with $25 renewal fee seems steep for his laid-back sports bar.
"I understand why police would want a name and face," Fulton said, "but there's a difference between sports bars and nightclubs. We all have bouncers, but for my guys to pay 50 bucks, it's a little different."
The ordinance is in committee and might go before the City Council for a final vote next week. But even for Lipsett, who found the training helpful, there's still an element of resignation when it comes to drunken clubgoers.
"Ninety-nine out of 100 people are nice people. You just get that one knucklehead that drinks too much," he said. "There's no cure for stupid."

Source: Australian News
HE has been living the high life in Greece for the past 10 years but James Dalamangas remains on the top of NSW's most wanted list.
Believed to be working as a bouncer in the red-light district in the north of Athens, the suspected double murderer is one of 11 most wanted people who are the subject of a new Crime Stoppers campaign called Operation Infra.
Police forces from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia are taking part in the nationally co-ordinated appeal to find and arrest the fugitives, who include alleged killers, rapists and fraudsters. The reward money being offered for their capture totals almost $500,000.
Crime Stoppers Australia chairman Peter Price said he believed the sums on offer would be added incentives due to the current global economic downturn.
On the list are of two of NSW's most wanted - Dalamangas, 38, and Blacktown shopkeeper Christopher Llorca Cobarrabais, 34.
Dalamangas fled Australia using a false passport in the days following his second alleged killing - Bankstown father-of-two George Giannopolous who was stabbed in the kitchen of the Pariziana nightclub while trying to separate two fighting patrons in 1999.
There is a warrant out for Dalamangas' arrest for the murder and, while Greek authorities have agreed to requests to co-operate to find and arrest Dalamangas, NSW Police in February this year renewed requests to Greece to step up their efforts.
Dalamangas is also a suspect in the 1997 murder of part-time bouncer and concreter Tim Voukelatos, who was shot five times in his car at Campsie. Despite a $200,000 reward being offered, Dalamangas remains a fugitive.
Toula Giannopolous said she thought about her brother George and where Dalamangas is several times a week.
"I think: 'Where are you hiding and what scumbag is covering for you?'," she said.
"It would be the happiest day of my life the day he gets caught."
Lesser known but still on the most wanted list is Cobarrabais, 34, wanted over the alleged assault of a man after he became involved in an argument with a group of men in Blacktown on April 26, 2006.
During the fight, one man was allegedly punched in the torso and suffered two small puncture wounds. Cobarrabais was arrested and charged but allegedly fled and failed to appear in court.
Source: Daily Star
PFriends and family of a Sheffield teenager who was killed by bouncers on holiday in Greece are taking their campaign for justice to the streets of London.
Relatives and friends of Matthew Cryer, who died after being hurled down a flight of stairs by doormen in Zante, will march on the Greek Embassy where they plan to deliver a petition calling for those responsible to be properly investigated by police
An inquest heard the 17-year-old from Killamarsh died of brain injuries after being dragged from Cocktails and Dreams nightclub in the resort of Laganas.
The court heard there was no reason for him to be ejected and that he offered no resistance.
Witnesses said college student Matthew, who was brought up in Frecheville, was punched in the jaw, then released, before being pushed down a staircase.
Matthew's family and friends are angry that the Greek police have failed to investigate the bouncers' actions.
His dad David Cryer, who now lives in Middlesbrough, said more than 7,000 people had visited
www.justice4matthew.com to sign an online petition.
Contact dave_cryer2005@yahoo.com to join the march
Source: Daily Star
Pressure is mounting on Greek police to hold a full investigation into the unlawful killing of Sheffield teenager Matthew Cryer by bouncers on a holiday island.
The 17-year-old died of brain injuries after being "dragged" from Cocktails and Dreams nightclub, at Laganas, Zante - despite there being no reason for him to have been ejected and him offering no resistance.
Witnesses told how college student Matthew, of Killamarsh, who was brought up in Frecheville, Sheffield, was first punched in the jaw, then released and "half pushed" down the bottom part of the staircase outside, tumbling to the ground.
The Owls fan never regained consciousness.
Coroner Dr Robert Hunter recorded a verdict of unlawful killing and said doormen at the club committed "unlawful acts which sustained Matthew a number of injuries resulting in his death".
But Greek police did not interview witnesses at the time, cordon off the scene or help Matthew as he lay dying in the street last July.
Officers even allowed witnesses to be intimidated by the bouncers responsible for Matthew's death, the inquest heard.
Det Chf Insp Rachel Walker, of Derbyshire Police, said: "Officers have liaised with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency over the last 10 months and through them, we have encouraged the Greek authorities to conduct an investigation into Matthew's death.
"We have no power or jurisdiction to enforce this but following the verdict of unlawful killing, we will contact SOCA to progress a Greek investigation for Matthew's family."
DC Katie Carr, of Derbyshire Police, revealed the Greek authorities had passed on "very little" information in their report about the tragedy, which was just the size of a "page of A4 paper".
But Matthew's mum Joanne was sceptical about whether Matthew's killer would ever face prosecution.
She said: "We hope there will be justice in Greece but as we have had no information or help from the Greek authorities so far, I think we will have a fight on our hands."
Source: Jerusalem Post - Israel
Police have charged two men this week with the January murder of a doorman who worked at the Gola nightclub in Tel Aviv.
The victim, Alexander Pozvedsky, 27, of Arad, was shot while sitting in a taxi together with a second security guard in the early morning hours of January 3.
Both passengers and the taxi driver were hit, and the driver managed to steer the car towards the Ichilov hospital.
An investigation headed by the Tel Aviv Police's Central Unit found that the two bouncers had been involved in a scuffle two hours earlier inside the club with a group of men from the Arab village of Kafr Kasim.
The fight had broken out after a young woman rejected the men's advances. The doormen intervened and an altercation ensued in which three people were wounded, requiring hospital treatment.
The two guards had remained at the club despite sustaining injuries. They ordered a cab at 6 a.m. with the intention of heading for Ichilov hospital.
Meanwhile, the families of the men had gathered outside the club, waiting for the doormen to emerge.
The taxi carrying the doormen was tailed by two suspects, relatives of the injured men, named as Muhammad Badir, the gunman, and his cousin, Ayman Taha, the driver, both residents of Kafr Kasim.
When the taxi stopped at a street corner, Badir exited his vehicle and fired several shots at the taxi before returning to his car and being driven out of the area by Taha.
Police added that the gang had contacted a security guard from the village of Jaljulya who had worked at the Golda club in the past, and who gave the men information on the two targeted bouncers.
Badir and Taha will be indicted for murder and conspiracy to commit murder at the Tel Aviv District Court.
The remainder of the suspects have been released to house arrest.
Source: SE News - Australia
A new code of conduct for Geelong nightclub bouncers and security staff will help weed out “thugs”, according to the president of the city’s nightlife association.
Darren Holroyd said complaints about unlicensed security guards and concerns for patron safety had prompted development of the code.
Mr Holroyd said the code would call for bouncers and security staff to wear fluorescent tops for identification and to act in a “professional and courteous manner”.
“Essentially we’re trying to introduce a standard for all security staff right across Geelong,” Mr Holroyd said.
“There’s always a feeling that security guys are just thugs and we’re trying to get rid of that mentality.”
The agreement follows the introduction of permanent ID scanners at Geelong nightclubs in late 2007. The city area’s six main clubs agreed to install the scanners as part of an accord with police to clean up alcohol-fuelled crime.
The scanners take and store images of licences or other ID while simultaneously photographing people seeking entry. Information about prior infringements at any of the participating nightclubs appear after the scanning process for staff to refuse entry.
Other initiatives included a lock-out one hour before closing time, bans on advertising cheap drinks and tight restrictions on all-inclusive nights, sometimes referred to as “20-buck-chuck” sessions.
Mr Holroyd said the code of conduct would build on the success of the accord.
“Since the accord I think things have certainly improved around town,” he said.
“There hasn’t been a lot of serious assaults and we believe a lot of the strategies are working.”
Source: Evening Herald - Ireland
“A family started a brawl in a Temple Bar pub after one of them was refused entry.
Thomas Kieran (50), David Kieran (23) Jennifer Kieran (29), Anthony Kieran (27) and Ian Connell (23) pleaded guilty to violent disorder in the Auld Dubliner Pub on September 2, 2006.
Anthony and David were charged with wielding a glass and a barstool while Thomas, Jennifer and Anthony admitted charges of assault. Anthony suffered a stab wound which punctured his lung but the attacker was never identified.
Thomas, his two children, Jennifer and David, their cousin Anthony and their friend Ian were drinking in the pub and watching Ireland play Germany in a soccer match.
Sergeant Paul Murphy, of Ronanstown Garda Station, told prosecuting counsel, Colm O'Briain, that Connell went outside to have a cigarette and was seen "jumping around and acting like a child."
When Connell was told to stay out of the pub, family members shouted abuse the doorman before one relative tried to headbutt him.
Headbutted
The doorman was hit on the head with a bottle. David and Jennifer were seen punching him and Thomas was seen hitting him on the back of the head.
Other people tried to help the victim and when a barman arrived he was headbutted by David and punched by Jennifer. Ian Connell also got involved and attacked the barman. Several of the group picked up bar stools and lunged at the doorman before they were held and gardai arrived.
During the brawl Anthony was stabbed by what doctors believed was a knife. When the five were arrested, he was the only one who made admissions. His defence counsel, Bernard Condon, said he had a stable engineering job, played rugby and did charity work. He said he had €2,000 for the victims.
Cormac Quinn, defending Jennifer, said she was a single mother of a seven-year-old boy and had witnessed her partner being shot dead in November 2004. She was the only one of the group who was known to gardai and has eight previous road traffic convictions.
Sean Gillane, for David, said his client was on a health science course in Trinity College and wished to apologise for the incident.
Gerardine Small, for Connell said he also had €2,000 in court for the victims.
Judge Katherine Delahunt adjourned sentencing and remanded all five on bail
Source: news.com.au - Australia
IMore than 170 people have been refused a licence to work as a bouncer after police checks found they had criminal convictions or had faced serious charges.
A Mount Isa man, 41, who had been charged with rape, deprivation of liberty and assault, is among 173 applicants who have been refused a licence since July 1 last year.
Others to be rejected were a Brisbane man, 24, whose criminal history includes assault, drug possession, illegal entry and receiving tainted property; and a 41-year-old Townsville man, charged with assault and stealing, although no convictions were recorded against him.
Between 2004 and 2006, bouncers were involved in 19 deaths at or near licensed premises in Queensland.
Since November, the Department of Justice has run daily police checks to ensure no licensed security providers have been charged or convicted of disqualifying offences.
The SCRAM – suitability, checking, reporting and monitoring – system checks the state's 23,000 licensed providers.
"What this system does is allow us to suspend the individuals as soon as they are charged with offences such as assault, sexual assault, fraud, murder, stealing and drug offences," Attorney-General Kerry Shine said.
Since July 1, the security licences of 22 bouncers around the state have been cancelled and another 24 suspended.
"We would expect to see further suspensions and disqualifications within the coming months if security licence-holders are convicted of disqualifying offences," Mr Shine said.
He said security licences also could be refused on the basis of public interest.
"Security providers need to be responsible and professional people," he said. "Most play an important role in maintaining the peace."
Source: BBC News
Iraq will not renew the licence of US security firm Blackwater, which was involved in an 2007 incident in which at least 14 civilians were killed.
An interior ministry spokesman said the US embassy had been told it will have to use another security company.
Five former Blackwater guards have gone on trial in the United States over the killings in Baghdad.
They have pleaded not guilty to killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others by gunfire and grenades.
"The contract is finished and will be not be renewed by order of the minister of the interior," said interior ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdel Karim Khalaf.
He said the decision had been sent to the US embassy in Baghdad and "they have to find a new security company".
He added that the decision had been prompted by the incident on 16 September 2007.
Opened fire
The killings took place when Blackwater guards opened fire in Nisoor Square, Baghdad, while escorting an American diplomatic convoy.
The firm says its guards were acting in self-defence but witnesses and relatives of those killed maintain that the shooting was unprovoked.
Children were among the victims.
The killings strained Iraq-US relations and raised questions about the oversight of US contractors operating in war zones.
After the incident, the Iraqi government pressed Washington to withdraw Blackwater from the country, but the security firm's contract was renewed in 2008.
A new US-Iraqi security agreement gives Baghdad the authority to determine which Western security companies operate in the country.
A US embassy official confirmed it had received the Iraqi decision, and said US officials were working with the Iraqi government and its contractors to address the "implications of this decision".
No Slashed Tires
“It’s nothing like Road House, there’s no Patrick Swayzes,” says Ted Washington, who divides his time as a bouncer between Winstons in Ocean Beach and at the Casbah in Middletown. Other bouncers have a different take on this particular vocation.
“I used to work at a certain establishment in Lakeside that’s not there anymore,” says Ronny K. “This was back in the late 1980s, so that dates me, but it could get like Road House. The band played behind wire mesh, and there was an arsenal of handguns and rifles under the bar. No one ever slashed my tires, because I parked around the corner and made sure no one was watching or following me. That’s kind of paranoid, but sometimes people do hold grudges when you toss them out.”
This was the case with a 22-year-old bouncer who was killed on February 22, 2003, in a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub, Red Top, that featured burlesque shows. From the police report of the incident: “A male patron had gotten onto a go-go dancing platform and was groping a female dancer. The patron was approached by security and asked to get down. He was told he needed to leave the club. He complied. The patron showed no outward signs of being intoxicated… The two guards walked behind the patron toward the stairs that led to the front door of the club. As the three climbed the stairs, the patron stayed ahead of the guards. At about the fourth or fifth stair up, the patron, who had his hands at his sides, abruptly turned, and with a closed fist struck the guard closest to him in the face. The guard was on the second stair up from the floor. The guard fell straight back and onto the concrete floor. He suffered a skull fracture and died.”
There is also the 2001 case of Michael Savala, who, on Cinco de Mayo, shot and killed two bouncers at the Old Bonita Store restaurant after he and his two drunken friends were 86’ed. The murder charges were reduced to manslaughter because, as reported by the Union-Tribune on March 8, 2003, a “witness testified that one of the bouncers elbowed Savala hard in the face, then slapped him a couple of times, even after two men had Savala by the arms and were dragging him outside. Savala then got a handgun from his Cadillac Escalade and shot bouncers Basilio Beltran and Jesse Vasquez to death.”
Beverage Ambassadors
In a recent online employment ad, the Marriott Gaslamp Quarter referred to the position of bouncer as “Beverage Ambassador,” with the duty “to keep rooftop bar safe and the patrons happy and in control.” Requirements: “Meet/ exceed customer expectations, excellent people skills” and “able to lift at least 50 pounds.” Other terms for the job are doorman, ID checker, security, enforcer, door staff, floor staff, and door supervisor. In Australia and Canada, the official term is “crowd controller.” They often collect door cover charges and rely on tips for special treatment. While in typical bar or club settings, the bouncer/doorman looks for people who are underage, intoxicated, or appear intent on causing trouble, in trendy, popular “scene” clubs frequented by celebrities or VIPs, bouncers allow or disallow entry based on gender, attire, personality, financial status (that is, slipping the bouncer $20–$100 to gain entry), and in some cases, race and culture, going against the mandate of antidiscrimination laws.
“My uncle came up with a term: executive clientele relocation director,” says Jason Estu, who has worked at bars and clubs all across San Diego and San Francisco. “I even put that on my résumé.”
According to the website crimedoctor.com: “The term bouncer presents an image of a brawler who will break up fights and forcibly eject obnoxious patrons. Bouncers are often portrayed in movies as tough, thug-like scrappers who love to fight…. Many nightclubs foster that image by hiring oversized ex-jocks, wrestlers, or martial artists to handle drunken or out-of-control patrons. Usually these bouncers have little experience and receive no real formal training in criminal or civil law…. These inexperienced bouncers will be forced to rely on their own common sense and instincts to solve a problem.”
“At strip clubs, I was known as the Body Guard, like that movie with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner,” says Ronny K., who did not want to be fully identified. “I kept men from jumping on the stages, going into the dressing room, or even the women’s bathroom — you won’t believe what some of these guys will do after half a dozen drinks. I walked the dancers to and from their cars because guys sometimes hang around outside waiting for them.”
Some notable former bouncers include actors Vincent D’Onofrio, Vin Diesel (his original bouncer pseudonym), and Mr. T., two-time winner of America’s Tough Bouncer competition. Even Al Capone worked as a bouncer in his youth. In the pre–World War I years of the United States, bouncers also had the job of guardians of morality. Ballroom dancing, for instance, and taxi dancing, were considered an activity that could lead to immoral conduct if the dancers’ bodies got too close. Venues required bouncers to remind patrons not to dance closer than nine inches from their partners. A bouncers’ warning was a light tap on the shoulder, at first; then, if needed, they progressed to more draconian methods.
The 300 Club
Jason Estu, Ted Washington, and Ronny K. all began their life in bouncing in the days before bouncers had to register with authorities and carry a “guard card.” In California, Senate Bill 194 requires any bouncer or bar security to be registered with the State of California Department of Consumer Affairs Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. They must also complete a criminal background check and submit their fingerprints to the Department of Justice and the FBI. The San Diego Police Department’s In-House Security Program held its first session for bouncers and doormen on September 14, 2004, with 25 attendees who worked in Pacific Beach establishments. “The pilot program is focusing on that coastal district — a ‘bar hopping’ hotspot lined with popular taverns,” reported the North County Times.
Before the passage of 194, “The only thing that mattered was that you were big, and you could hold your own in a fight,” says Estu, who once belonged to a group of San Diego bouncers who called themselves “The 300 Club” — no one in the club clocked in at fewer than 300 pounds, averaging 350–375. These big guys hung out together, partied together, dated the same women, and supported each others’ goals and dreams. (This is not to be confused with the 300 Club in Antarctica, explained at penguincentral.com as “a mid-winter activity at [the South] Pole so named for the
-300°F temperature shift one experiences when running from a +200°F sauna to the Pole and back when the outside ambient temperature hits -100°F or below. The air is so dry that it’s possible to sit in a sauna that warm without getting scalded, and it’s also possible to make a several-minute walk to the Pole and back without losing fatal amounts of body heat.”) From 2004 to 2005, they could often be found having a Sunday BBQ together on the rooftop of a loft building at Fifth Avenue and Market Street.
The Los Angeles production company Romano Shane Television was interested in creating a reality show about the 300 Club: the series would follow the San Diego bouncers around on and off the job, chronicling the challenges of this kind of life, from fights with a drunk patron to fights with the significant other at home.
It never quite came together. “It was a great concept,” says TV producer Tony Romano from his home in Malibu, “and I think it still is, but there are so many details when dealing with a group of people and getting a test pilot off the ground. TV’s a crapshoot. The stars just didn’t line up at the time.”
Most of the former 300 Club have scattered now — moving to other cities, getting married, and going back to school. Estu and a handful remain in San Diego, doing what they do best.…
“Once a bouncer, always a bouncer,” Estu likes to say. He gives this example: he recently went to see a movie where there was mostly a young audience, except for a couple in their 50s or 60s. This couple asked the group of people in front of them to please be quiet, and “This guy got in their faces, started yelling he was going to sue, swearing at them. Now,” Estu says, “that’s not right, this is an elderly couple, you don’t get in older people’s faces like that, so the bouncer inside me kicked in and I got into this guy’s face. I walked the couple to their car to make sure they were okay and nothing happened.”
The Former IRS Agent and the Repo Man
Ted Washington has bounced from coast to coast in his travels. He worked for one night in a Las Vegas strip club. “Uhn-uh,” he says, shaking a head full of dreadlocks and laughing, “that scene was too crazy for me.”
So how did he wind up at Winstons? Did he apply for the job, did he walk in and say, “Do you need a bouncer/doorman?”
“I came in with some friends as a customer one day,” he explains. “This buddy of mine started flirting with this girl. He tapped her on the ass with his hand — a big mistake. She was with these three guys. The three guys started to pick a fight with my friend. Now, my friend had it coming; he shouldn’t have touched that girl, but three against one isn’t a fair fight. I got involved. I picked up one of the three guys and tossed him out of the bar.”
The doorman working at that time observed Washington’s way of handling the situation and was impressed. “He said I should work there, offered me a job. I said no. It’s not what I wanted. He said, ‘Come try it out, one day a week.’ So I did. And now here I am.”
As for the Casbah, his involvement with the local music and spoken-word scene, and performing in the band Pruitt Igoe, led to work at the music venue.
He admits that things don’t get as rowdy at the Casbah as they do at Winstons. “People are there for the music, so there are not too many fights or problems, unless they have a hardcore punk or metal band on the roster,” and then things might get out of hand. He also says there are fewer fights at Winstons these days. Mondays through Thursdays tend to be problem free, “but on Friday and Saturday nights, something happens. Used to be you could count on a big fight every weekend, but things have mellowed out.” He doesn’t know why — maybe the patrons are getting older, maybe people are drinking less because of the economy.
Perhaps Washington’s previous job with the Internal Revenue Service prepared him for the vocation. IRS agents often deal with difficult people. “I was the guy who came to your house to seize property and assets” when people had a debt to satisfy with the U.S. Government. Washington seems amused by that past job, a life very unlike the bohemian existence he now lives in Ocean Beach. When he’s not at the door of Winstons or the Casbah, Washington spends his time writing poetry, painting, and operating Puna Press. The press mostly publishes Washington’s art and writing but has also issued Edwin Decker’s Barzilla, a local favorite among denizens of the poetry scene.
“Before I bounced, I was a car repo man,” says Ronny K. “Worked for this agency that served court papers on people, followed cheating husbands and wives around, and repo’d cars. Place out of Spring Valley. I did some process-serving but mostly nabbed cars. Sometimes, people would just give you the keys, knowing this was coming; you’d go up to the door, explain it, they’d say, ‘Okay’ and hand over the keys, and that was that, easy commission. Other times, you gotta go back and steal the cars, which would either be easy or tricky, doing this at three, four in the morning. I’ve had people come after me with bats, shoot BB gun pellets at me, send their dogs after me. But no one ever got right in my face.”
A Fistful of Fights
It can be a dangerous way to make a living. “Ninety-seven percent of the time, you’re not doing anything, you’re hanging out, talking to girls, kicking back,” says Estu, “and three percent of the time you live in hell and utter terror.”
When it comes to violence, a bouncer can never know what to expect, especially when alcohol, and maybe drugs, are involved. Or sports. “I was working at the club in the Excelsior Hotel,” Estu says. “It was a football party kickoff night, and the teams from USD and SDSU were there.” Stuff happened, words were exchanged, fists began to fly. “Eighty football players were there,” Estu recalls with amazement, “and all hell broke loose. We did what we could to stop it. I just held on for the ride and hoped I didn’t get hurt. Strangely enough, I didn’t get hit at all,” but the football players tore into one another. “Most people don’t want to fight, and they’ll stop when you break them up,” Estu says, “but these football players are made for this kind of thing, and they weren’t about to stop.”
“I was hired for this wedding, a big wedding,” says Ronny K. “Funny, why does a wedding need security or bouncers? Well, it was a big event and they didn’t want the ‘wrong’ people crashing the thing, and of course people were going to get drunk at the wedding party. It was a white guy from Imperial Beach marrying a Mexican girl from Chula Vista, and they both had ties to different gangs. Crazy. So here you have this wedding party attended by these peeps from two rival gangs and different racial blood, so there was bound to be blood. Not an hour into the party, there was drinking and other stuff, and these guys started going at it. It looked like a rumble on a prison yard, these two giant dudes packed with muscles yelling at each other, tearing their shirts off, showing all these gang tats, and then slamming into each other the way monster trucks do, you know? Holy s*it, the sound they made when flesh met flesh and fist met fist, and everyone at the party was cheering them on, rooting for their guy, and then they started to get into it. The women too. It was a huge gang fight. I stood there and waited for the police. There was no way in hell I was getting into that. I didn’t know if there were guns or knives. I remember chunks of flesh on the floor that people had bitten off each other. I don’t know what happened to the bride and groom; they probably, smartly, got out of there.”
Estu says, “I was at a beach bar and I wasn’t even working there, but I got into a fight. A buddy of mine [from rhe 300 Club] was working there. I just went to hang out. These eight rather big Samoan guys showed up. They were looking for a bouncer who wasn’t working that night, they were there over a beef from a year and a half ago. I had to help my buddy on this. Eight Samoan guys and three of us — I was asking for mercy.” The incident did not go well; Estu and the other two got beaten pretty badly. “One guy blindsided me in the head, bam, then another hit me again, bam,” he tells it. He took the beating and lived.
“I’ve been hit in the head with a beer bottle three or four times,” Ronny K. claims. “One dude reached over and grabbed a bottle of Skyy vodka and hit me in the head, and the bottle didn’t break. Still hurt. I took the bottle from him and hit him back, and the bottle still didn’t crack. I’ve had a couple knives pulled out on me and got my hand cut but never been stabbed. Never been shot at either, knock on wood,” and he raps his scarred knuckles on the bar counter. Where did those scars come from? “Fistfight two weeks ago,” he says. “You should see the other dude’s face. He came in looking for his ex-girlfriend or wife or whatever, and she was there with this other guy. He wanted to start s*it with the other guy, but he and his ex started going at it, smacking each other around. So I grabbed him and said, ‘You don’t hit women like that,’ and he tried to take me on. A mistake.”
Estu has also had his hand penetrated by a patron’s teeth, deeply. “I tackled him, had his head locked down, and then he bit me.” Estu spent several hours in the hospital, getting rabies shots and stitched up. He still has nerve damage in the hand from that experience.
“There was this construction worker at a bar in El Cajon,” Ronny K. says. “He had his tool belt on. Probably shouldn’t have let him bring it in, but it wasn’t my shift. Come my shift, the guy was shitfaced and looking for trouble. I go to talk to him, and he whipped out a hammer and came after me with that. Then he threw the hammer at my feet and started tossing nails at me too. He was so drunk it was funny, but it could have been different. It wasn’t that funny when you think about the kind of damage he could have done to me or other people.”
Washington hasn’t had such dangerous encounters, just the typical mild fights with drunkards. “The main thing the bar is concerned with is making money,” he says. “They want the drinks to pour and the money to come in. They want people to feel safe and have fun and drink. It’s a business. We’re there to make sure people have a good time; we take out those who want to cause trouble. We don’t let in people who look like they’re going to interfere with the money flow.”
In Wisconsin’s lumberjack days, bouncers would blatantly remove patrons who were too drunk to keep purchasing drinks, to free up space at the bar for new patrons. According to wisconsinhistory.net, a “snake-room” was a “room off a saloon, usually two or three steps down, into which a barkeeper or the bouncer could slide drunk lumberjacks head first through swinging doors.”
Today, with so much litigation and the fear of criminal charges, establishments want their bouncers to talk before tossing. “Communication is the key; a lot of it is about talking to people,” Estu says. “If there’s a problem, find out what it is. Listen to what the problem is. Figure out how to solve the problem. Get people to calm down.” The bar or club wants people to stay and spend their money, but if a problem can’t be resolved, then people need to be bounced out.
“Most people are reasonable, even if they are drunk,” says Ronny K. “No one wants pain. But you’re gonna get those people who like pain, even live for pain. The jerks who want to fight and mess people up. Usually, you can spot them at the door and you turn them away. You can see it in their eyes, you can feel the energy coming off them. These guys don’t last in society too long. They wind up in jail soon enough.”
As for weapons, neither Estu nor Washington carries anything deadlier than a flashlight. Washington has never had the need for weapons, finding his physical presence and hands to be enough. Estu once thought about a gun but figured that could be taken away from him and used on him. One night, his new flashlight came in handy. “This was at Moondoggies downtown,” he says. “This guy was there, he was on a reality show, I forget the name — Meet My Folks, Who Wants to Marry My Dad? — it was one of those kind of shows — and this guy who was on it thought he was some superstar. He thought he could get any woman, that all women knew who he was and wanted to sleep with him. So he comes in and he starts grabbing women’s butts, grabbing women left and right, going, ‘Hey, wanna go home with me?’ So I tell him he has to stop. He goes, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ He gets into my face and goes, ‘I’m Joey, don’t you know who I am?’ Like I should care. He was drunk, he wouldn’t stop, so I had to fight to get him out. He was taking swings at me, and Joey stupidly falls into an open hole in the ground. He yells, ‘I’m gonna kill you!’ He gets up and starts swinging. I had my new flashlight and used it — I hit him so hard he went flying over a motorcycle.”
Ronny K. carries an ASP collapsible metal baton, although he’s not supposed to. “You need a special permit for these, so technically it’s illegal,” he says. “But I’ve had cops check mine out because mine is modified with a special handle.” He pulls out the baton, swings it open. It’s chrome, painted black; the weapon extends 21 inches and opens with a sleek, hissing sound. “Sometimes I compare mine with some cops’ batons, and we talk about various techniques. None of them have asked if I have a permit. Maybe they figure I do, or maybe they don’t care. Way I see it, they know I need this for the job.” He’s found that he’s seldom had to use it, keeping it sheathed except for extraordinary circumstances because he could be charged for using a deadly weapon without a permit, even if it was used during an act of self-defense. “I won’t ever carry a gun. I hate guns,” he says. “And mace, I’d probably use it wrong and spray myself in the eyes.”
Of course, just because a brawl in a bar is broken up doesn’t mean it’s the end of the violence. On January 10, 2006, Michael David Sullivan, 26, got into a tiff with Jonathan Thomas Lefler-Panela, 25, in Pacific Beach’s Sam’s by the Sea restaurant. Sullivan was seen hitting the other man in the face. The two were bounced from the establishment. Outside, Sullivan stabbed Lefler-Panela 15 times as the victim walked to his car. On May 24, 2007, Emery Kauanui, 24, died from injuries he suffered after an altercation with Eric House, 22, at the Brew House in La Jolla. Both were ejected from the bar by the bouncer. Kauanui returned to his home on Draper Avenue at about 1:30 a.m., and the man who Kauanui had hassled with, Eric House, showed up with four other men. A fight started between the two, and three of House’s companions joined in. The four men punched and kicked Kauanui repeatedly until he was lying on the ground, bleeding, with a severe concussion, which resulted in his death four days later. House was arrested on the scene — his friends ran when they heard sirens, but House was looking for a tooth he’d lost. The case created a scandal around what seemed to be a La Jolla surfer gang, the Bird Rock Bandits, who had a habit of intentionally causing trouble in area bars — House had been banned from La Jolla’s Shack Bar and Grille for picking fights. On November 18, 2008, Seth Cravens was found guilty of four counts of assault, one count of misdemeanor battery, and one count of making a criminal threat. Before the trial, in June, Matthew Yanke, Eric House, and Orlando Osuna pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. House and Yanke were sentenced to 210 days in county jail. Orlando Osuna was sentenced to 349 days in jail. Henri “Hank” Hendricks pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Seth Cravens is scheduled for sentencing on January 12, 2009.
“Some people just like to get drunk and fight, for whatever reason,” Ronny K. says, “and that’s never good in the long haul of things. You can’t do that crap all your life and get away with it. It’s gonna come to a screeching halt, one way or the other.”
He remembers one night in El Cajon where he thought it might be his last night as a bouncer, even with the ASP baton. “This guy comes up and shows me ID, he’s six foot six, seven, big dude, made me feel small and I’m six foot three and 320 pounds. He had a shaved head, swastika tats, complete white-power shitkicker. I knew he’d been, what, two or three days out of the joint and was looking for trouble. I was almost not going to let him in. He looked at me and his eyes said, ‘Go ahead and not let me in and see what happens.’ The guy had trouble written all over him — no, not trouble, death. This guy was on a death trip. Not his death, he was out to kill someone just to kill someone. That’s the impression I got anyway. What the hell, I let him in and prayed for the best. I kept my eye on him, and he knew it. He was loud and scary and all, but he didn’t start anything, but still, I had this creepy feeling that any minute he would, and that would be it for me, there was no way I would be able to take him and his buddies. But after two hours they left. I never felt so relieved. He walked out and winked at me and said, ‘See ya,’ and that was that. My guardian angel must have been looking out for me that night.”
Dangerous Women
Both Washington and Estu admit that women patrons can be more dangerous than men when it comes to fighting. “They think they can get away with it,” Washington says, “and they can’t.” He’s had his share of drunken women trying to start fights with him when he has not let them in because they are too inebriated or don’t have ID. He has to be careful not to cross any illegal lines when “handling” females.
In the club where Estu currently works downtown, Estu tells of a night where there were a group of “Asian supermodels” drinking and socializing at the Jade Theater at Seventh Avenue and C Street. The friendliness among the pretty models soon turned ugly. “It was something else,” he says, “all these women in skimpy clothes and little skirts going at it, blouses tearing, certain body parts popping out…there was blood all over the floor, teeth, shoes. One girl’s extension braid was tacked to the wall for two weeks — I laughed every time I came in and saw it.”
In another case, he had to bounce a woman out of the Jade who wouldn’t stop rapping. “She went on and on about how she was on MTV. When I threw her out, she yelled, ‘Look for me, I’m on MTV!’ ”
He had another problem with a woman without proper ID last New Year’s Eve. “I was being polite, opening up the rope, saying, ‘Have a good night, ma’am,’ and she turned around and decked me, [hit me] right in the nose.”
Ronny K. says, “In the strip clubs, the dancers will fight with each other — they get jealous, they might fight over a customer or about tips. That can be hairy and tricky. I once had the wife of a customer come in and confront him about being in the club, saying he was cheating on her. She started to hit him and scratch at his face. I intervened, so she started to hit and scratch me. She had some long, sharp nails on her. There was a lot of blood, and half of it was mine. I was not too happy with that, and she was arrested. She kept yelling, ‘This ain’t fair! That bastard is cheating on me, and I’m going to jail?! Arrest him!’ She didn’t realize she had done assault and battery and you go down for that. The husband tipped me $100 and said, ‘Sorry ’bout that.’ ”
Ronny’s seen his share of girl fights at regular bars too. “It can get dangerous,” he says, “and they can tear each other apart. Who said women can’t fight? They can fight all right. Some people might think it’s hot — ‘Oooh, cat fight,’ and all — but it really isn’t hot, not in my eyes. I like my women sweet and quiet. Frankly, I think it’s pathetic because they’re just drunk and mad and making fools of themselves, and then they wake up sober either in jail or with a bunch of cuts and bruises.”
Bouncers Under the Microscope
Bouncers can be lightning rods for aggression and macho posturing on the part of obnoxious male customers wanting to prove themselves, says James Parker in his article “Tales from Behind the Velvet Rope,” originally published in the Boston Phoenix and reprinted at bostonnightclubnews.com: “The thing about bouncers: for all their density and predictability, their routine enforcements and worn-smooth one-liners, they are not quite of this world. Reality tilts around them. Disproportions occur. Tiny bouncers are to be feared, while extra-large ones — presenting as they do the affronting spectacle of indomitability — find themselves constantly challenged by smaller men. In ethnographic terms, the bouncer is the big daddy of the liminal realm, the place of thresholds, through which participants in the rite are conducted — moved along, if you like — as they pass from one state of being to another. Jittery clubbers at the door, agitating for entry; the gyre of an out-of-control pit, slewing toward carnage; a drugged or boozed patron sprouting invisible tusks of hostility; the bouncer is there, filling the space, negotiating the transition. Not always skillfully, and not always nicely, but then heavy-handedness is part of his job description. To make something bounce, you have to smack it from time to time.”
The 2001, issue 41 of the British Journal of Criminology published a paper, “Get Ready to Duck: Bouncers and the Realities of Ethnographic Research on Violent Groups.” Authored by four sociologists, Winslow, Hobbs, Lister, and Hadfield’s conclusion was that bouncers were indeed a deviant subculture where exclusivity and being “one of the boys” was mandatory and where becoming involved in frequent violent incidents was requisite and invited. According to the researchers, it is a job, and an identity, that thrives on violence.
From the wikipedia.org entry on bouncers/doormen: “A 1998 article ‘Responses by Security Staff to Aggressive Incidents in Public Settings’ in the Journal of Drug Issues examined 182 violent incidents involving crowd controllers (bouncers) that occurred in bars in Toronto, Canada. The study indicated that in 12 percent of the incidents the bouncers had good responses; in 20 percent of the incidents, the bouncers had a neutral response; and in 36 percent of the incidents, the bouncers ‘…responses were rated as bad — that is, the crowd controllers enhanced the likelihood of violence but were themselves not violent.’ Finally, ‘…in almost one-third of incidents, 31 percent, the crowd controllers’ responses were rated as ugly. The controllers’ actions involved gratuitous aggression, harassment of patrons, and provocative behavior.’ ”
Brushes With Celebrity
On July 31, 2008, 61-year-old Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire was refused entry into Hannah’s Bar and Grille in Olympia because she did not have ID on her. It did not matter that she had the power of the governor’s office. “The young man said, ‘If you don’t have ID, you can’t get in,’ ” Gregoire told the press. She was not offended nor did she make a fuss; in fact, the Governor was flattered that she was considered to be under 21.
Estu has not had any politicians in the places he has bounced but tells of an incident at the 1015 Club in San Francisco, a popular trendy venue where he used to work the door. “It was maybe a month or two before Austin Powers came out. This big black guy with dreadlocks comes in and he’s carrying a baby on his shoulders. We’re, like, ‘Hey, man, you can’t bring a baby in here!’ But it wasn’t a baby, it was a midget, this small man. Later that night, he [the small man] was sitting on the bar counter. We locked eyes. His little fists were clenched like he wanted to fight. Sure enough, I saw him in that movie — I had ‘Mini Me’ in the bar.”
Another time, Anna Nicole Smith came into the 1015. “It was when she was saying she was off drugs,” Estu recalls, “but when she took off her sunglasses, her pupils were dilated, and she acted like she didn’t know where she was. I shook hands with her, and she wouldn’t let go of my hand.”
“No major celebrities I know of,” says Ronny K., “except for porn stars at the stripper clubs, who tour and sell their products. They headline and get all the attention and it bothers the other dancers because they’re not going to make as much money that night. The girls will make fun of the headliners, and there may be some words, but everyone does their best to respect each other. It’s all business, it’s not personal…or it should be that way. People get funny about their ‘star’ status and money. I guess I’ve seen some divas from time to time. Where are they now? Legends in their own imaginations.”
I Can Read
Estu admits it annoys him that the general public image of the bouncer is that of a mindless Neanderthal. “I was sitting outside a club one day reading a Stephen King book, and this couple walks by and the girl says, ‘Look, he can read.’ I mean, what the hell? Do they think we’re all lugheads?”
Estu doesn’t see himself bouncing forever, despite his mantra, “Once a bouncer, always a bouncer.” He plays in a band, Road Noise, holds an AA in kinesiology and a bachelor’s in education. “Bouncing is like stripping,” he says. “It’s good money and hard to stop doing. I’ve held down all kinds of jobs, sales jobs, you name it. I’ve sold cell phones, I’ve done the 9-to-5, but none of it pays as good as bouncing.” Along with base pay, depending on the night and clientele, Estu can make $300–$500 a shift, $1000 on a weekend. He can no longer be considered as a member of the 300 Club, however, since he has lost considerable weight.
For Ted Washington, it’s a job — he walks to Winstons from his home, and the Casbah is not far away. As long as he can pay the bills and run his small publishing company, he’s content. Outside Winstons, he keeps a woman out who wants to hug everyone she meets. She grabs another woman passing by and says, “I have to hug you!” and hugs the flabbergasted girl while her male companion watches with amusement. For some reason, Washington won’t let her in the bar. He laughs about it and says, “This is my life!”
Ronny K.’s story is different. “I’m a lifer, it’s all I know, it’s not like I have any real skills,” he says. “I’ll bounce until I physically can’t, or until someone kills me on the job.” He likes the idea of the 300 Club, although “I don’t hang out much with other bouncers; I don’t like getting friendly…but maybe it’s a good idea for bouncers to have some kind of social support group to talk about things. It’s a kind of life that only we can understand.”
Source: Surinenglish
The death of an 18-year-old youth at a fashionable discotheque in Madrid has renewed the controversy in Spain about the excess violence sometimes employed by bouncers in the unregulated night-club sector.
The controversy has been reopened in the wake of the death this weekend of a young Spaniard who was so "brutally" attacked by three doormen, security guards at the Madrid disco El Balcón de Rosales, that they killed him, according to some witnesses of the incident.
The three security guards are in custody for the suspected homicide of the youth, Álvaro Ussia.
His death has once again raised the question in Spain about cases of excess violence employed by some discotheque bouncers.
Most of Spain's autonomous communities, or regions, have no regulations governing the hiring of security personnel in these kinds of recreational establishments.
Guards are not asked to show any particular certification, nor are their responsibilities defined.
The National Union of Local Police Chiefs and Directors, or Unijepol, demanded on Monday a reform of laws governing private security and the "legal certification" of the figure of "security personnel in recreational establishments."
According to Unijepol, personnel charged with security duties in recreational establishments are beyond any administrative control and are chosen by owners of these clubs for their "physical strength or knowledge of the martial arts."
For that reason the association demands the regulation and specification of requirements for the hiring and training of these guards, as well as the equipment they should use and the actions they are to take.
In recent years several young people have died in Spain at the hands of bouncers in pubs and discotheques.
One of the worst cases occurred on Jan. 27, 2002, in the Maremagnum resort area in Barcelona, where the Ecuadorian citizen Wilson Pacheco was struck a brutal blow before being thrown in the waters of the port by three doormen at the Caipirinha discotheque, who had previously barred him from entering the club.