News Article: July 11, 2008
Section: News
Outlet: The Surrey Now
Byline: Tom Zillich
Title: Bar Watch coming to a club near you
Date: 2008-11-07
Surrey (CP) - Local bar owners are reluctant to talk publicly about it, but Bar Watch is coming to Surrey and region.
The program aims to keep gangsters and other violent patrons out of bars and other licensed establishments with tactics such as the collection of photo-ID information at the door, metal detectors and video surveillance.
A Bar Watch group was established in Vancouver in the 1990s and similar organizations have recently started in Nanaimo, Chilliwack and West Vancouver.
Participating bars in Surrey and neighbouring cities will be covered under a new Lower Fraser Valley organization. An open house to generate interest in the initiative will happen in Langley next Thursday, with involvement from police, civic government and other officials.
One operator of a Surrey bar said it's time Bar Watch comes to the region "to keep gangsters and violence out of our nightclubs before they're overrun by undesirables."
The bar owner spoke to the Now on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation by gang members. "It gets personal real quick," said the bar operator.
"Bar Watch is about having the governing body represent all bar owners, so it's the organization saying, 'You can't come in here,' not just the one bar owner saying that."
He said the goal is to have all bars in the area covered by the program.
"It's a big step we're taking. It's small right now, but it's going to grow. That's what the open house is for, to have those (bar operators) see what this is all about. It makes sense. They might see their numbers go down but in the future, it will help. There's no negative effect of not having bad people in your nightclub."
A mission statement from Lower Fraser Valley Bar Watch says the "self-regulation initiative" is designed "to discourage and ultimately prevent patrons from engaging in unlawful and uncivil behavior that endangers other patrons, staff and police within and outside member establishments."
Critics of Bar Watch say the program abuses civil liberties and suggest that it's used more as a way to collect personal information for marketing purposes than for the security of bar patrons.
"That's just not true," said the bar owner. "People who don't want their ID swiped at the door, they're not aware of the violent world we live in now. (Bar Watch) is for patrons who want to be safe in a nightclub."
The RCMP supports the program.
"I would welcome it here," Surrey RCMP spokesperson Sergeant Roger Morrow told the Now this week.
The July 17 open house about Bar Watch starts at 1:30 at Langley municipal hall's auditorium, 20338 65th Avenue. The event is "offered to all restaurants, nightclubs, pubs, licensees as well as media and members of the general public who are interested to see what Bar Watch is all about and how it benefits the community."