New security measures will soon be used by all Northbridge nightclubs in an attempt to curb violent and antisocial behaviour in the nightclub precinct according to spokespeople for Perth’s major GLBT venues.
The system, called idEye by iD-tect, is an identification scanning computer terminal which takes accompanying photographs of nightclub patrons, housing the information as encrypted data for a maximum of 28 days.
It is a system already being utilised by The Court Hotel and soon to be introduced by Connections Nightclub.
‘The scanners are a proactive measure by the licensee to show our commitment to patron’s safety,’ explained Bree Maddox, owner of The Court Hotel.
‘We’ve had some negativity with people worried about their privacy, but the scanner does actually meet all the criteria of the privacy act, it was something we were very strict on when we were looking around for a scanning company: something that protected privacy.
Maddox explained that the system can be networked between venues in a given area, as well as around the country.
‘What happens is that if someone is removed because of unacceptable or violent behaviour it basically means they can’t walk down the street and get into another venue,’ Maddox said.
‘With this system we can stop those problem patrons at the door.’
Connections Nightclub manager Gavin Kingsbury explained that, – as members of a Perth Accord subcommittee – Connections management decided to introduce the idEye Identification Software on a trial basis. This option was deemed preferable to imposing a lockout or shortening trading hours
He admitted that as a patron of nightclubs himself, the scanning of individuals upon entry is an idea he finds somewhat ‘offensive’.
‘The loud minority of people want these things in place, and the silent majority of people who don’t do anything wrong are now being penalised, are now having to go through a whole set of red tape just to get into the venues and have a good time.’
‘It is an attempt to improve antisocial behaviour and it’s another piece of the puzzle; another tool that could help,’ explained WA Police spokesperson Neil Poh.
‘At the moment,’ he added, ‘there’s no police involvement, in terms of police being involved in the monitoring of or contributing to the information in those systems because I think there’s technology and logistical problems there, and I’m not sure, for instance, how police would go about sharing their intelligence holdings or their information with licensees.
‘There’s probably a bit of work to be done there.’
There has been some concern over how the use of Photo ID based scanning may cause particular difficulties for some GLBTI community members. In regards to a venue like Connections, Gavin Kingsbury stressed that he will be instructing his staff to ‘have a bit of a brain’ when it comes to scanning trans* patrons, with similar protocol to be put in place to deal with drag performers.
‘We’ve got a fairly good idea of what drags look like as a boy,’ Kingsbury explained, ‘but it might become a problem if there’s new drag queens and performers and people coming through with different makeup on, and we’re going to have to come up with a contingency for that, but we’ve got a bit of time up out sleeves to work on that one.’
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