bouncing?

[officergossman]

So after I got laid off, I was really enjoying the vacation but now I am getting really bored, LOL. I am considering bouncing at bars for a while until I make up my mind on what I want to do job wise...

Anyone can tell me if its a lot different to be an officer vs. a club bouncer?

I think I got the looks down, I am 6'5" and 247 pounds all the Krispi Kremes when doing Walmart lor patrol LOLOL

If anyone has been a bouncer, I'd love any tips or suggestions. I don't have a power trip or an ego, so I think I'd have that down and I am still young, 23.

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Ok...

I don't know how bouncing is in IL, but I can tell you about how it is down here. At the club I work at, all of my certs for S/O mean nil. I cannot carry any of my fun toys that I have spent so much time and money getting. No OC, no baton, obviously no firearm. However, the job is fun. The atmosphere is nearly void of all the boredom of a static post. You actually have people you can talk to and can generally do more than stare at a fence all night. Of course, you have your ocassional moron who needs to have a "come to Jesus" talk, but I have found them to be few and far between. I also recently learned that our laws do not allow a bouncer to really defend themselves very well in a bar. It is ruled as assault when you 'take out' a drunk. The job is also rewarding to me. I cannot count the number of times I have probably saved lives by either preventing alcohol poisoning when I kick people out for being drunk, or preventing drunk driving accidents by restraining people until a cab arrives. I have only a few suggestions to make: work for a bar that does not have the rough reputation (unless you like that atmospehre), do not work for managers with less life experience than yourself, and buy a good flashlight and a copy of the fake ID manual. Those are invaluable tools of the trade. Anyway, sorry this is a jumbled mess, I have been studying all evening. Good luck, hope this helps somewhat.

[Curtis Baillie]

So after I got laid off, I was really enjoying the vacation but now I am getting really bored, LOL. I am considering bouncing at bars for a while until I make up my mind on what I want to do job wise...

Anyone can tell me if its a lot different to be an officer vs. a club bouncer?

I think I got the looks down, I am 6'5" and 247 pounds all the Krispi Kremes when doing Walmart lor patrol LOLOL

If anyone has been a bouncer, I'd love any tips or suggestions. I don't have a power trip or an ego, so I think I'd have that down and I am still young, 23.

Thanks in advance.

Here's an article by a friend and colleague on "night club/bar security." I hope this information helps. Link

[NRM_Oz]

I worked as a Doorman for a few nightclubs when I first got into the industry in the late 80's as it was more $$$ that ame from door work than collecting dirty glasses. I was the smallest bloke in our team and the only non-pacific islander but was careful whom I worked with as the EGO can not be apart of your team. In Australia they are called "Crowd Controllers" with further training of 4 hours in my state on dealing with incident records and dealing with difficult people. Sadly it does not always happen as the thug element still remains but consider that some clubs employ female staff only at the doors now. Have a read of Curtis's article he referred to - a good read.

[officergossman]

Thank you all for the comments and the link

[Nauticus]

I have years and years of martial arts training, and I work as a doorman occasionally.

The difference, I find, is that bar security doesn't seem to consist of as much *law* enforcement, as it does *rule* enforcement. Sure, you deal with crimes, but generally, arrests are not made. You kick people out for breaking club rules, and thats a big part of the job. You also tend to get physical with people a lot quicker, being a doorman, than as a security guard. The risk is often higher, and the enviornment can potentially get out of control very quickly and easily.

[HotelSecurity]

I have years and years of martial arts training, and I work as a doorman occasionally.

The difference, I find, is that bar security doesn't seem to consist of as much *law* enforcement, as it does *rule* enforcement. Sure, you deal with crimes, but generally, arrests are not made. You kick people out for breaking club rules, and thats a big part of the job. You also tend to get physical with people a lot quicker, being a doorman, than as a security guard. The risk is often higher, and the enviornment can potentially get out of control very quickly and easily.

Hotels are the same. We enforce rules, not laws. I believe this is what private security in general should be doing. We are to serve our compnaies, not the public. Even when I do something like provide first aid to a guest I am not doing it like a public first responder. I am doing it to limit liability to my employer. When someone slips & falls in my lobby my investigation will try hard to find something that puts the person who slipped partially to blame. I am not paid to protect the public. I find a lot of people working in this field forget the difference between us & the public safety people.

[Nauticus]

Hotels are the same. We enforce rules, not laws. I believe this is what private security in general should be doing. We are to serve our compnaies, not the public. Even when I do something like provide first aid to a guest I am not doing it like a public first responder. I am doing it to limit liability to my employer. When someone slips & falls in my lobby my investigation will try hard to find something that puts the person who slipped partially to blame. I am not paid to protect the public. I find a lot of people working in this field forget the difference between us & the public safety people.

Very true. Security is often supplied to protect the public, but doing so for liability reasons, rather than anything else. I think that is why many companies turn into 'warm body' companies. Security satisfies liability requirements. Expensive, skilled guards are pointless.

[NRM_Oz]

Just something to post and discuss - GLASSING. As 90% of our drinks are serve in glasses (beers and cocktails and spirits), there has been a number of ugly incidents where glasses are smashed into the faces of other patrons including blinding, facial cuts and deep lacerations. Is this exclusive to Australia or becoming an issue elsewhere ?

We do have beer bottles but most beer is on tap with 17 US Oz glasses being common or now the new middle of the road (rip you off size) beer glasses just bigger than a US size can). The answer has been to use plastic cups after 2200 and these are not like a football game but are like picnic glasses which chill nicely.

[Guest]

In Texas

I don't really notice the glasses/bottles being a problem as much as the furniture. Bar stools fly hard and far (personal experience from 3 cracked teeth and a bruised shoulder one night at work in the bar.) Tables are small and fly well too. Also, glass ashtrays seem to be a favorite projectile or my patrons. I did have one instance involving a bottle, but it was what is called a 'weapon of opportunity' not a weapon that was carried across to a fight. Some guy just got punched and ganged up on by 3 guys and grabbed the first thing he could to defend himself (I was in the middle of a brawl at the time and my other bouncer was out sick and the manager is a coward.) I also have to be wary of people using knives. They are legal up to 5" in Texas, so that's alot of metal to stick in something. The worst are parking lot brawls. People just start pulling things out of truck beds. Brutal. All of these instances get a long, long burst of OC from the MK-46. Gotta love crowd control.

[ValleyOne]

When I joined this forum I never imagined we would actualy be discussing the aerodynamics of inanimate objects (bar furniture).

Personally, I would go to great lengths to avoid bouncing bars...

[Mr. Chaple]

You may want to pick up a copy of Geoff Thompson's "Watch My Back." If you do be sure to get one of the later editions. Personally I am a big fan of all of his stuff; articles/books to movies/plays, self defense to self help to fiction.

http://www.geoffthompson.com/

http://blog.geoffthompson.com/

http://www.bohemiancafe.co.uk/

[NRM_Oz]

Just to respond to Dougo's post in context of our aussie stuff - no smoking laws inside means no ashtrays to worry about and 1 less person having to clean them. Normally stools are like Rocking Horse dumps - rare and the tables are designed to stand around as if you sit you don't drink as much. As for blades, 1.5 inches are your limit without a please explain if found in your possession - but does not stop those who carry them without a care in the world or carry hardware. 12 months into working a club (I walked out of the industry) after a female slashed open a co-worker who had earlier tossed out her b/f and she pulled a 1 inch blade made from a razor blade as he turned to enter the club again.

[Nauticus]

Incidently, I wear a stab proof vest under my uniform, and my black, leather kevlar gloves don't leave my hands for anything.

[NRM_Oz]

Back in those days, not having a mullet was considered minimum requirements.

A boss I once had told me as a young university student in Sweden, he worked doors and said - no-one ever worked a door without a stab resistent vest. He was too poor as a student so made his own with (don't laugh) slim plastic chopping poards about 1/4" thick inside 2 t-shirts sewn together. Knives were a major problem with fights amongst patrons in large groups.