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Ideas aimed at upping safety
Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook speaks Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008, during an interview with The Herald-Dispatch.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- Instead of cramming in as many patrons as possible, Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook suggested to the City Council's Public Safety Committee Thursday that the capacity for bars and nightclubs be restricted to a few hundred people.
The committee met to discuss ways to improve public safety outside and inside of Huntington bars. The discussion comes after a number of violent incidents in downtown Huntington, the most recent occurring on Nov. 8 at a nightclub in which three people were found wounded outside the club and a Huntington man was shot to death inside the bar by a police officer, according to police.
Holbrook offered a number of suggestions that would make it easier for cops to investigate suspicious behavior in bars and nightclubs before an incident happens. Holbrook's suggestions included having bar owners allow police in at any time, making sure security personnel use devices to identify weapons and stricter enforcement of underage consumption.
The police chief made it a point to tell the committee that the number of troublesome bars are very limited. Future actions by the council should take into account the number of bars that are not chronic nuisances.
"The problem that gets us here today is a very small percentage of bar owners," Holbrook said. "We should be cautious how we use the same brush to paint the same picture."
The bars that are problems, Holbrook said, are ones that can fit 500, 600 and up to 1,000 people. There's a direct correlation, he said, between the size of a bar and a high volume of violent incidents.
"These places do not seem to be able to manage that crowd," Holbrook said. "I strongly feel that (high) occupancy is the single most factor that causes problems."
Andrew Varney has been a bouncer at several downtown Huntington bars. He told the committee the problem is not the patrons, but the bar owners who readily allow people with drugs and weapons into the establishment.
"There's people that I wouldn't let in and the owner lets them in the back door for $50," Varney said.
Councilman Mark Bates said he's been working on gathering information on Councilman Scott Caserta's proposed bar moratorium ordinance that previously was tabled. A moratorium would halt any new establishments.
Bates suggested putting a temporary, 120-day moratorium on approving new bar licenses to give council enough time to develop an ordinance that addresses bar safety concerns.
Assistant City Attorney Lora Maynard cited West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals rulings that have struck down moratoriums that have contradicted established city ordinances. Maynard said the city would be better off repealing an ordinance and making changes to it so that the new ordinances would address these safety concerns.
There was no action by the committee. Committee Chairwoman Frances Jackson planned another meeting in a couple weeks while city administration considers the suggestions discussed at the meeting.
