Thursday , March 28 2024

What Might Have Been: More On Club Security

MTV news talked with a security expert on the murder of Dimebag Darrell Abbott and three others at a Columbus rock club last week, which migh thave been prevented with a $50 handheld metal detector:

    “It should have been a common practice. It should have been something they had,” said Paul Wertheimer of Crowd Management Strategies, a consulting firm specializing in concert safety. “If it was used right, it would have caught the gun and you would have never heard about it. It would have been an item in the police blotter of the Columbus Dispatch.”

    ….”In any crowd, there’s going to be a certain percentage who are going to be troublemakers and ne’er-do-wells,” Wertheimer explained. “You have to plan for those, and now they may have weapons. That doesn’t mean you don’t have the concerts. It just means you have to take the necessary precautions to protect the public.”

    The first step in doing that is insisting that everyone submit to a search with a metal detector, either the large walk-through kind or the simple handheld device such as the one Wertheimer found online on posted on his Web site, www.crowdsafe.com. And no genre should be considered immune to violence, either.

    “I recently saw [pop-punkers] Mest at the House of Blues, and everybody went through metal detectors,” Wertheimer said. “Not because Mest fans are known to be violent, but just because it was a prudent thing to do. You just do it, and you do it as routine.”

    According to witnesses, the Alrosa Villa club didn’t use metal detectors

    ….”Security management is not rocket science,” admits Filippo Marino, managing director of Entertainment Security Professional Network, an offshoot of the larger corporate security firm Security Director LLC. “It does require a degree of common sense and commitment, which unfortunately some club owners are not willing to pursue.

    Marino said cost may not be the only determining factor when it comes to clubs using metal detectors. Instead, some club owners are more worried about their image than the safety of their patrons.

    “Most club owners will tell you that the moment you start having personnel at the door [with metal detectors], you’re sending a message that you’re dealing with a crowd that may be bringing in weapons, and therefore you’re lowering the quality of your image.”

    The Entertainment Security Professional Network was founded last year when executives at the parent company noticed “a particular lack of training and professional education” in concert venues and nightclubs, Marino said. So they started holding training seminars to ensure that security personnel are properly trained. In London, nightclub security guards are required to be certified, but there’s no such mandate in the U.S., where all too often a pair of menacing biceps are the only qualifications needed.

    “The biggest concern is a lack of standards in the concert industry,” Wertheimer said. “There is no national standard that addresses the safety of concertgoers. That’s why there seems to be so many safety lapses where common-sense solutions are obvious.”

    “The average bouncer or person working security, in terms of training, can probably claim to have a good workout schedule,” Marino said half-jokingly. “It’s a sad state of affairs.”

    Wertheimer said safety-conscious concertgoers should take note of not just the emergency exit locations, but also the preparedness of a venue’s security personnel.

    “Look for metal detectors,” he advised. “Look over the security. Ask yourself, ‘Are they professional? Do they treat you professionally and with respect? Are they watching the crowd or are they watching the band and looking at the pretty girls?’ … A black T-shirt and a flashlight does not a security guard make. Just because they’re there doesn’t mean you’re safe.”

In other words: pay attention to your environment wherever you go. It’s a dangerous world, and that dangerous world can follow you wherever you may go. Don’t be paranoid, be alert and think ahead.

Comprehensive coverage of the shootings and aftermath here.

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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