News Article: October 7, 2003
Section: News
Outlet: Times - Colonist
Byline: Lori Culbert and Amy O'Brian
Title: Bars tap high technology to track troublemakers
Page: Front Page & A.1
Date: 2003-10-07
VANCOUVER -- Bar patrons in Vancouver will soon have to swipe their drivers' licences and have their photographs taken every time they enter a club or bar that is a Barwatch member.
Within the next six months, about 35 bars and clubs in Vancouver will likely be connected to a network that will be able to red-flag troublemaking patrons.
Barwatch, a coalition of Vancouver bar and nightclub owners, still has to vote today on whether to make an identity security system mandatory at all its member establishments, but John Teti, chairman of the coalition, said the vote is a formality.
"We have full backing from our members," Teti said Monday.
"It should take about six months to implement the full system."
Once the system is in place, patrons will be asked to stand in front of a camera to have their picture taken and will then swipe their drivers' licence, which will automatically give the establishment the patron's name, age and whether they have caused trouble at any other bar on the network.
The establishment will not be able to access the person's address or criminal record by swiping the licence.
Barwatch is considering several different security system manufacturers for the contract, but Teti said a Vancouver-based company, TreoScope Technologies Inc., has a system with advantages over the others.
One thing Teti likes about TreoScope's "Vigilance" system is that it can be accessed by all the establishments on the network, which means a patron who gets into a fight at one bar along Granville Street will be red-flagged by the time he tries to get into a bar down the street.
TreoScope co-owner, Owen Cameron, said the system can also be used, for example, to help a victim whose drink has been spiked. The customer could return to the bar several days after the incident and go through photographs of patrons, trying to identify who might have spiked the drink.
"We can start making Vancouver's nightlife a little safe," Cameron said.
"We can't guarantee it's going to eradicate violence, but at least it's a step in the right direction."
Vancouver police are supportive of such a security system.
Drunken clubbers have been getting into more fights since the city extended drinking hours to 4 a.m. and the police department has spent nearly $120,000 for extra officers to work the late-night patrol since the hours were extended July 4, said spokeswoman Const. Sarah Bloor.
Such a system would also mean officers could use a search warrant to retrieve a list of patrons should a crime happen inside a club, said Bloor.
When gunfire erupted at the Loft Six bar this summer, witnesses scattered and police found it difficult to get information about the fatal shooting.
Bloor said police hope the Liquor Control and Licensing Board will endorse an identity tool, so that all bars in the city would be required to use it.