by Austin » Sat Mar 08, 2003 4:12 am
I know this is an abandoned topic, but I don't get into the VSD forum very often. I worked as a bouncer for three years while in college, coincidentally 2 1/2 of which were at a club that contracted Roy Bedard as a security consultant.
This thread caught my interest immediately, and if the importance of VSD hasn't been shown sufficiently for some, here's another good reason:
At the small bar where I got my start, one of the bouncers I worked with was an accomplished grappler. He never taught me any techniques, but he did relate a story of a fight he got in when he worked in Boston. An amateur boxer decided to resist when my coworker escorted him out. The result was my coworker getting him to the ground, and inflicting multiple serious injuries (broke ribs, nose, even eye sockets). Was this an example of my coworker bragging about his physical capabilities? No. The moral of his story was that he was named in a pending multi-million dollar lawsuit, and that I should be very careful.
I took this to heart, and never sought out physical confrontations. I think there are a lot of things that make a good bouncer. Size and strength are near the bottom of the list. The second club I worked at was multi-level, about 1500 person capacity, and had 20-25 bouncers on staff. At one point almost half of our staff was made up of the FAMU football team (thanks to the hiring practices of ignorant management), and they were practically worthless. Their size and strength did not keep people from challenging them, and worse, when help was needed they were usually engaged with female clientel or friends at the club. Some balked when their acquaintances were involved. For me, alertness and loyalty are at the top of my list.
This article also does not mention tools used by bouncers. Every member of our staff carried a flashlight. Mine was a 4 D cell maglite. I never once had to use it as a weapon. I did, however, use it more times than I can count to signal for backup in a loud, dark club, and to direct traffic. I also carried pepperspray. No, not everyone did, and yes, I knew better than to use it inside. One member of our staff carried pepperfoam for indoor use.
Finally, I would stress diversity and teamwork among the staff. We had a wide range of races, ages, and even had both sexes working as bouncers. I'm not the best talker, but often worked with someone who could "sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves." Having a person for every situation made an enormous difference.