To serve and protect

Three nightclub-related shootings have hit the Cape Girardeau area in a little over two months. Young men died outside both Players and the Taste in Cape Girardeau, and shots fired in a bathroom at the Purple Crackle in East Cape Girardeau, Ill., wounded at least two.

With better security in mind, the owners of those clubs are making changes -- putting up video cameras, buying metal detectors and even changing songs on the jukebox.

On Wednesday, Taste operator Patrick Buck started installing security cameras. He also said he started shopping for a hand-held metal detector after the Jan. 1 shooting.

Barring weather problems, he plans to use the cameras this weekend. The system will watch the street and parking lot in front of the after-hours club. Buck expects to lose business from patrons who don't want to be on camera.

"The tapes will be available to police at their request," he said. "If we had had a camera system on before and people had known that, you wouldn't have had all the loitering."

Police Capt. Carl Kinnison called the cameras a "step in the right direction." He was not aware of any other clubs in the city that use them.

While the Taste is a no-alcohol establishment, Buck also manages the Phat Cat bar on Broadway in Cape Girardeau. At both locations, three bouncers are on duty and patrons are "patted down" upon entry, he said.

"The problem is you may not be able to feel some things at times," he said.

Purple Crackle owner Dave Pearce said his nightclub already has security cameras indoors and employs four to eight bouncers per night, depending on the size of the crowd.

But since the Dec. 6 shooting, the club bought a hand-held metal detector. In addition, staff will soon be trained by a law enforcement officer in crowd control and spotting weapons and suspicious behavior.

"We figure the more eyes watching, the better," Pearce said.

There are other new security measures, but he wouldn't disclose them.

"We don't want them to know about those," Pearce said. "We're more vigorously enforcing the conditions and conduct of the crowd."

Different crowd

At Players, changes were made to attract a different kind of clientele after a Nov. 1 shooting, said owner Fred Glueck. Heavy metal and hard rock music were removed from the jukebox and replaced by country and blues.

In addition, some staff members were fired, bartender Rhonda Holshouser said.

"We don't want those troublemakers in here anymore," she said. "If you come in here now, it's a different kind of place."

Most nightclubs have a "critical-intensity" period that begins 30 minutes before closing time, said Chris E. McGoey, a Los Angeles-based security consultant who provides safety tips to nightclub owners through his Web site, www.crimedoctor.com.

"Once 'last call' is announced, a major exodus takes place," he said. "Within 30 minutes or less, hundreds of high-spirited patrons are ushered out into the parking lot or street at their most intoxicated state. If you are going to have a serious melee, it will happen at this point.

"Failed club managers mistakenly believed it was solely the duty of law enforcement to handle crowds on the public streets and not their responsibility," McGoey said. "At the club license revocation hearing, they are taught otherwise."

Police Lt. John Davis maintains a file on every nightclub and bar in Cape Girardeau with three years' worth of notes about complaints or violations. When a business' liquor license comes up for renewal, Davis prepares a report for the city council from the material.

"If there's a pattern, then we'll investigate further and run a report on all calls for service made concerning that address," he said.

Many clubs promote happy-hour drink specials that can encourage overindulgence and advertise "ladies night" specials to attract more female patrons and pack the club, McGoey said.

"Club managers can dial down the intensity of a club at any time by modifying the club music format, amount of door charge, limiting access, adopting stricter dress codes and altering the advertising message," McGoey said. "... Poor business decisions can make a club too intense and will place too much responsibility in the hands of club bouncers to control misconduct. This is a big mistake."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160