Assault In And Around Bars Essay
This guide deals with the problem of assault s in and around bars. The proliferations of bars in many communities has lead to an increase in assaults in and around bars, primarily occurring on weekend nights, and are usually alcohol related. The majority of assaults occur in a small number of places and not all assaults involve a simple fistfight with a clear beginning and end. Some assaults flare up over time, consist of different incidents and some involve participants alternating roles of aggressor and peacemaker. While some involve low levels of aggression, others involve more severe violence. And can draw additional people in to the incident. Those who fight in bars usually are not deterred to do so by negative consequences. In addition many
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assaults in bars go unreported due to potential negative reflections on the establishment, and the feeling of shame and partial responsibility for the occurrence of the incident by the victim. Thus police records do not accurately reflect the total number of assaults in and around bars. Many factors contribute to violence in and around bars. Understanding these factors can help you frame your own local analysis questions, determine good effectiveness measures, recognize key intervention points, and select an appropriate set of responses for your particular problem. The introduction of alcohol to a situation is the most obvious factor contributing to violence. Alcohol limits the perception of reasonable options during conflict. This increases ones willingness to take risks, reduces fear of punishment and impairs ones ability to talk through a fight. Many police incidents involving police, can be attributed to individuals who binge drink or those who consume more in one sitting than they normally do. With that, those who do drink in excess tend to be more aggressive. The culture of drinking is a factor in increased violence because the acceptance of intoxication as an excuse for aggressive behavior and the relaxation of societal rules during drinking time lead to increased violence. The types of bars and their concentration also play a part in the problem. Dance clubs report more incidents of violence than neighborhood bars and social clubs. High concentration of bars can lead to bar hopping and if the bars close at the same time this leaves many people in close proximity to one another the opportunity to become violent. The closing time of bars can contribute to violence in different ways. When all bars in a certain area close simultaneously, the patrons of these bars all leave accordingly and may crowd streets awaiting transportation or looking for late night food venues. This creates competition for these services, providing and opportunity for violence. In addition patrons from incompatible social groups might come together creating conflict. Bars closing at the same time might also cause some patrons to drink heavily just before closing, knowing they won’t be able to have more drinks past the closing time. In addition, bars that close later generally have more incidents of aggression than bars with regular closing hours. Aggressive security staff has is a factor in that some security personnel view themselves as enforcers of rules rather than protectors of customer’s safety. As a result, when bouncers become aggressive with patrons, the patrons are more likely to return the aggression on the security bouncer. Some uniform requirements such as black security shirts can encourage confrontation with some patrons and not with others. A bouncer’s presence may even signal to some patrons that violence is an appropriate way to handle disputes in a bar. Other more obvious factors contributing to assaults in bars include high volumes of young male strangers, continued service to drunk patrons, crowding and lack of comfort, competitive situations such as bar games or for the attention of a patron of the opposite sex, low ratio of staff members to customers, tolerance of disorderly conduct and low levels of police enforcement and regulation. In order to address the problem of assaults in and around bars, one must ask certain questions. The following are questions one should analyze, while the answers to the questions will help you choose the most appropriate set of responses later on.
Incident Characteristics
• Is the problem primarily one of bar fights, public inebriates assaulting one another, strong-arm robberies, sexual assaults, bias-motivated assaults, or something else?
• What precipitates the attacks (e.g., verbal exchanges/insults, threats, disagreements, long-standing disputes, or advances to girlfriends/boyfriends)?
• Do the assaults stem from conflicts between individuals or between groups? If groups, are they criminal groups such as gangs?
• Do the precipitating conflicts initiate in the bar or elsewhere? How/why does verbal aggression escalate into physical assaults?
• Is there a widespread perception that certain bars or entertainment districts are dangerous because of assaults?
• What weapons, if any, do offenders use in assaults? Do either the offenders or the victims bring weapons to the bar, or do they convert items found in the bar into weapons?
Victims
• Who is assaulted?
• Do victims report the assaults to the police? (Surveys of patrons and emergency room admissions may reveal unreported assaults.)†
• If victims do not report their assaults, why not?
• What are the characteristics of victims who report compared with those who do not?
• Are victims typically
drunk?
• Are victims alone or in groups?
• Are victims members of any ethnic or other subcultural group?
• Are many of the victims underage drinkers?
• How serious are victims’ injuries?
• Do victims typically instigate assaults?
• Are there chronic assault victims?
Do victims typically know their assailants?
Offenders
• How old are offenders? Do they belong to any particular ethnic, occupational, recreational, or other group?
• Are offenders alone or in groups?
• Are there repeat offenders? Do they have prior criminal records for assault?
• Are offenders typically known as troublemakers in bars?
• Are offenders typically drunk? Do they get drunk in the same bar in or around which the assaults occur?
• Are offenders themselves injured in the fights/assaults? How seriously?
• Are offenders heavy drinkers? Do they have histories of alcohol-related problems (e.g., commitments to detoxification centers)?
Locations and Times
• In or around which bars are assaults concentrated?
• Where, specifically, do assaults occur (e.g., inside/outside, restrooms, alleys, streets/sidewalks, parking lots, or around the bar)?
• What is the nature of the surrounding neighborhood (e.g., entertainment district or primarily residential/commercial/ industrial)?
• Are the bars on or near major roadways?
• Do the people in or conditions of the bars themselves appear to generate the violence, or are bars merely affected by other conditions in the surrounding neighborhood?
• When do assaults occur (e.g., closing time, happy hour, special events, or weekends)?
• What public transportation is accessible after closing hours (e.g., buses, trains, or taxis)?
• Is there a high concentration of bars in areas with high reported assault levels?
• What are the lighting conditions both inside and outside bars? Do assaults occur in dark areas or areas not easily seen by passers-by?
• Are there objects outside bars that offenders can readily use as weapons (e.g., loose stones or trash receptacles)?
Management Practices
• What is the primary theme of a typical problem bar?
• Does the bar serve food, or is it available nearby?
• Does the bar offer discounted drinks? What entertainment, if any, does the bar offer? Does the entertainment contribute to aggression?
• Does the bar employ bouncers? If so, do they tend to be aggressive when dealing with troublesome patrons? Do bar managers conduct proper background checks on bouncers before hiring them? Are bar employees properly trained?
• What is the ratio of bar employees to patrons? Is it sufficient to provide timely service and monitor patrons’ drinking and behavior?
• Do bar employees call the police under appropriate circumstances? Do bar managers encourage or discourage police inspectional visits?
• Are employees encouraged to push altercations out of the bar?
• Are employees trained to recognize signs of drunkenness, to refuse service diplomatically, and to defuse aggression? Does management have written policies regarding these practices, expect employees to follow them, and support them when they do?
• What conduct does the bar prohibit? Do employees effectively enforce those prohibitions?
• Is the bar décor attractive, and interior lighting adequate?
• Does the bar commonly reach or exceed occupancy limits?
• Do competitive events (e.g., playing pool, darts, rolling dice) lead to assaults?
• Does the bar discourage barhopping (e.g., restrict reentry, charge entry fees, or prohibit carrying out drinks)?
• Does the bar have items that patrons can readily use as weapons?
• Does the physical setting (e.g., the presence of sharp-edged bar tops or glass) create risks of serious injuries?
Regulation and Enforcement Practices
• Do the police or liquor-license regulators routinely inspect bars for compliance with regulations?
• Do they inspect for serving practices and occupancy limits, in addition to technical license requirements?
• Do the police or regulators take enforcement actions?
• Do bar owners believe police will enforce laws?
Do they perceive enforcement actions as fair?
To determine the effectiveness of the plan of action, one should take measures of the problem before implementing a plan, and after. This allows one to determine the amount of effectiveness the plan had and suggest modifications to the plan if the intended results did not occur. Useful measures of the effectiveness of the plan include reduced number of assaults, reduced number of police calls for service for fights, reduced number of injuries as a result of fights, and fewer repeat victims and offenders. Analyzing the local problem can help to understand the factors contributing to the problem. Once analysis has been done, the development of a plan for a plan of action can occur. With that, come general requirements of an effective strategy. These strategies include enlisting community support by establishing a “bar watch” program as an effort to incorporate the interests of community members, bar owners and the local government and encourage that all members accept responsibility for the problem in order to make suggestions to fix it. Implementing multifaceted strategies to address as many known factors to the problem such as practices of serving, consumption patterns, comfort of the environment and available public transportation can aid in reducing the number of assaults. Getting cooperation and support from bar owners and managers is also an effective strategy. Getting bar owners to agree in writing to follow codes of practice would assist in a strategy. Following that is formally regulating and enforcing relevant liquor licensing laws. These can be enforced by a number of measures such as warnings, fines, liquor license suspensions and revocations. More specific responses to reduce assaults include reducing alcohol consumption and making bars safer. Limiting alcohol consumption can be managed by establishing responsible beverage service training which teach bar staff how to monitor drinking to prevent drunkenness, promoting slower drinking rates, prohibiting underage drinking, encouraging food service with alcohol service and discouraging alcohol price discounts. Establishing can also reduce alcohol consumption and enforcing server liability laws. In addition the community can urge the reduction of concentration and or number of bars in the area. In an effort to makes bars safer, management could train staff to handle patrons nonviolently through the use of verbal persuasion and employ control strategies. Establishing adequate transportation, relaxing or staggering closing times, controlling bar entrances and exits, reducing potential weapons in bars, and banning known troublemakers in bars are also good measures to take in increasing safety in bars. A majority of these measures are effective ways to deal with the problem of assaults in bars. I envision implementing the process by using some of the suggestions made, like training staff in effective ways of serving and dealing with unruly patrons, establishing adequate transportation like a drunk bus that charges a dollar per person. This would be most effective in a college town were most of the patrons are students who are going to the same place. In addition, increased walking patrols of police in areas of high concentration of bars. This appears to be an effective strategy in downtown Savannah Ga. Strict enforcement of entrance for underage drinkers would be a crucial part of my strategy as well. Lastly, enlisting the help of the community and establishing a partnership between the bar owners and the local government would serve useful in that collaborating could bring creative ideas to the table and the responsibility of the problem could be shared thus reducing stress on the local police department.
assaults in bars go unreported due to potential negative reflections on the establishment, and the feeling of shame and partial responsibility for the occurrence of the incident by the victim. Thus police records do not accurately reflect the total number of assaults in and around bars. Many factors contribute to violence in and around bars. Understanding these factors can help you frame your own local analysis questions, determine good effectiveness measures, recognize key intervention points, and select an appropriate set of responses for your particular problem. The introduction of alcohol to a situation is the most obvious factor contributing to violence. Alcohol limits the perception of reasonable options during conflict. This increases ones willingness to take risks, reduces fear of punishment and impairs ones ability to talk through a fight. Many police incidents involving police, can be attributed to individuals who binge drink or those who consume more in one sitting than they normally do. With that, those who do drink in excess tend to be more aggressive. The culture of drinking is a factor in increased violence because the acceptance of intoxication as an excuse for aggressive behavior and the relaxation of societal rules during drinking time lead to increased violence. The types of bars and their concentration also play a part in the problem. Dance clubs report more incidents of violence than neighborhood bars and social clubs. High concentration of bars can lead to bar hopping and if the bars close at the same time this leaves many people in close proximity to one another the opportunity to become violent. The closing time of bars can contribute to violence in different ways. When all bars in a certain area close simultaneously, the patrons of these bars all leave accordingly and may crowd streets awaiting transportation or looking for late night food venues. This creates competition for these services, providing and opportunity for violence. In addition patrons from incompatible social groups might come together creating conflict. Bars closing at the same time might also cause some patrons to drink heavily just before closing, knowing they won’t be able to have more drinks past the closing time. In addition, bars that close later generally have more incidents of aggression than bars with regular closing hours. Aggressive security staff has is a factor in that some security personnel view themselves as enforcers of rules rather than protectors of customer’s safety. As a result, when bouncers become aggressive with patrons, the patrons are more likely to return the aggression on the security bouncer. Some uniform requirements such as black security shirts can encourage confrontation with some patrons and not with others. A bouncer’s presence may even signal to some patrons that violence is an appropriate way to handle disputes in a bar. Other more obvious factors contributing to assaults in bars include high volumes of young male strangers, continued service to drunk patrons, crowding and lack of comfort, competitive situations such as bar games or for the attention of a patron of the opposite sex, low ratio of staff members to customers, tolerance of disorderly conduct and low levels of police enforcement and regulation. In order to address the problem of assaults in and around bars, one must ask certain questions. The following are questions one should analyze, while the answers to the questions will help you choose the most appropriate set of responses later on.
Incident Characteristics
• Is the problem primarily one of bar fights, public inebriates assaulting one another, strong-arm robberies, sexual assaults, bias-motivated assaults, or something else?
• What precipitates the attacks (e.g., verbal exchanges/insults, threats, disagreements, long-standing disputes, or advances to girlfriends/boyfriends)?
• Do the assaults stem from conflicts between individuals or between groups? If groups, are they criminal groups such as gangs?
• Do the precipitating conflicts initiate in the bar or elsewhere? How/why does verbal aggression escalate into physical assaults?
• Is there a widespread perception that certain bars or entertainment districts are dangerous because of assaults?
• What weapons, if any, do offenders use in assaults? Do either the offenders or the victims bring weapons to the bar, or do they convert items found in the bar into weapons?
Victims
• Who is assaulted?
• Do victims report the assaults to the police? (Surveys of patrons and emergency room admissions may reveal unreported assaults.)†
• If victims do not report their assaults, why not?
• What are the characteristics of victims who report compared with those who do not?
• Are victims typically
drunk?
• Are victims alone or in groups?
• Are victims members of any ethnic or other subcultural group?
• Are many of the victims underage drinkers?
• How serious are victims’ injuries?
• Do victims typically instigate assaults?
• Are there chronic assault victims?
Do victims typically know their assailants?
Offenders
• How old are offenders? Do they belong to any particular ethnic, occupational, recreational, or other group?
• Are offenders alone or in groups?
• Are there repeat offenders? Do they have prior criminal records for assault?
• Are offenders typically known as troublemakers in bars?
• Are offenders typically drunk? Do they get drunk in the same bar in or around which the assaults occur?
• Are offenders themselves injured in the fights/assaults? How seriously?
• Are offenders heavy drinkers? Do they have histories of alcohol-related problems (e.g., commitments to detoxification centers)?
Locations and Times
• In or around which bars are assaults concentrated?
• Where, specifically, do assaults occur (e.g., inside/outside, restrooms, alleys, streets/sidewalks, parking lots, or around the bar)?
• What is the nature of the surrounding neighborhood (e.g., entertainment district or primarily residential/commercial/ industrial)?
• Are the bars on or near major roadways?
• Do the people in or conditions of the bars themselves appear to generate the violence, or are bars merely affected by other conditions in the surrounding neighborhood?
• When do assaults occur (e.g., closing time, happy hour, special events, or weekends)?
• What public transportation is accessible after closing hours (e.g., buses, trains, or taxis)?
• Is there a high concentration of bars in areas with high reported assault levels?
• What are the lighting conditions both inside and outside bars? Do assaults occur in dark areas or areas not easily seen by passers-by?
• Are there objects outside bars that offenders can readily use as weapons (e.g., loose stones or trash receptacles)?
Management Practices
• What is the primary theme of a typical problem bar?
• Does the bar serve food, or is it available nearby?
• Does the bar offer discounted drinks? What entertainment, if any, does the bar offer? Does the entertainment contribute to aggression?
• Does the bar employ bouncers? If so, do they tend to be aggressive when dealing with troublesome patrons? Do bar managers conduct proper background checks on bouncers before hiring them? Are bar employees properly trained?
• What is the ratio of bar employees to patrons? Is it sufficient to provide timely service and monitor patrons’ drinking and behavior?
• Do bar employees call the police under appropriate circumstances? Do bar managers encourage or discourage police inspectional visits?
• Are employees encouraged to push altercations out of the bar?
• Are employees trained to recognize signs of drunkenness, to refuse service diplomatically, and to defuse aggression? Does management have written policies regarding these practices, expect employees to follow them, and support them when they do?
• What conduct does the bar prohibit? Do employees effectively enforce those prohibitions?
• Is the bar décor attractive, and interior lighting adequate?
• Does the bar commonly reach or exceed occupancy limits?
• Do competitive events (e.g., playing pool, darts, rolling dice) lead to assaults?
• Does the bar discourage barhopping (e.g., restrict reentry, charge entry fees, or prohibit carrying out drinks)?
• Does the bar have items that patrons can readily use as weapons?
• Does the physical setting (e.g., the presence of sharp-edged bar tops or glass) create risks of serious injuries?
Regulation and Enforcement Practices
• Do the police or liquor-license regulators routinely inspect bars for compliance with regulations?
• Do they inspect for serving practices and occupancy limits, in addition to technical license requirements?
• Do the police or regulators take enforcement actions?
• Do bar owners believe police will enforce laws?
Do they perceive enforcement actions as fair?
To determine the effectiveness of the plan of action, one should take measures of the problem before implementing a plan, and after. This allows one to determine the amount of effectiveness the plan had and suggest modifications to the plan if the intended results did not occur. Useful measures of the effectiveness of the plan include reduced number of assaults, reduced number of police calls for service for fights, reduced number of injuries as a result of fights, and fewer repeat victims and offenders. Analyzing the local problem can help to understand the factors contributing to the problem. Once analysis has been done, the development of a plan for a plan of action can occur. With that, come general requirements of an effective strategy. These strategies include enlisting community support by establishing a “bar watch” program as an effort to incorporate the interests of community members, bar owners and the local government and encourage that all members accept responsibility for the problem in order to make suggestions to fix it. Implementing multifaceted strategies to address as many known factors to the problem such as practices of serving, consumption patterns, comfort of the environment and available public transportation can aid in reducing the number of assaults. Getting cooperation and support from bar owners and managers is also an effective strategy. Getting bar owners to agree in writing to follow codes of practice would assist in a strategy. Following that is formally regulating and enforcing relevant liquor licensing laws. These can be enforced by a number of measures such as warnings, fines, liquor license suspensions and revocations. More specific responses to reduce assaults include reducing alcohol consumption and making bars safer. Limiting alcohol consumption can be managed by establishing responsible beverage service training which teach bar staff how to monitor drinking to prevent drunkenness, promoting slower drinking rates, prohibiting underage drinking, encouraging food service with alcohol service and discouraging alcohol price discounts. Establishing can also reduce alcohol consumption and enforcing server liability laws. In addition the community can urge the reduction of concentration and or number of bars in the area. In an effort to makes bars safer, management could train staff to handle patrons nonviolently through the use of verbal persuasion and employ control strategies. Establishing adequate transportation, relaxing or staggering closing times, controlling bar entrances and exits, reducing potential weapons in bars, and banning known troublemakers in bars are also good measures to take in increasing safety in bars. A majority of these measures are effective ways to deal with the problem of assaults in bars. I envision implementing the process by using some of the suggestions made, like training staff in effective ways of serving and dealing with unruly patrons, establishing adequate transportation like a drunk bus that charges a dollar per person. This would be most effective in a college town were most of the patrons are students who are going to the same place. In addition, increased walking patrols of police in areas of high concentration of bars. This appears to be an effective strategy in downtown Savannah Ga. Strict enforcement of entrance for underage drinkers would be a crucial part of my strategy as well. Lastly, enlisting the help of the community and establishing a partnership between the bar owners and the local government would serve useful in that collaborating could bring creative ideas to the table and the responsibility of the problem could be shared thus reducing stress on the local police department.