Bar Bouncers Use Excessive Force in Florida

Bar bouncers are caught on video acting like thugs and brawlers intentionally punching, kicking, using knee strikes, and stomping on patrons just like in the movie Road House. A reporter from the St. Augustine Record newspaper in Florida asked me to view video footage posted on YouTube and comment on the behavior of several Conch House Marina bar bouncers. You be the judge about how the bar bouncers handled the melee when you view this video for yourself. The bar bouncers are the big guys dressed in orange t-shirts. Link to Conch House Brawl Video My video observations Conch House Marina dock was critically over-crowed. Bouncers were acting like thugs rather than protective security. Bouncers yelling "chill out" is not effective in crowd control. I counted six people down with injuries or unconscious. I saw bouncers throwing sucker punches. I saw a bouncer using a chokehold on a patron. I saw a bouncer kicking, kneeing, and stomping on a patron. I saw blatant excessive force by multiple bouncers. I saw bar bystanders get knocked over like bowling pins. I saw a general lack of a bar security plan and training. Your list may be much longer than my quick outline. The punching, kicking, knee strikes, stomping, and choking that I witnessed on this video was offensive rather than defensive force, and was not reasonable, under these circumstances. There’s a lesson here about bar bouncers It’s not always wise to hire bar bouncers whose main attribute is their large size if the job description requires someone to have a calm professional demeanor and adequate training to manage a large crowd and drunk and disorderly customers. From watching the video, I suspect that many of the Conch House bar bouncers: They had little or no security experience. They received little or no training in crowd control. They were not taught about the lawful limitations of using excessive force on customers. In a crisis, like this one, inexperienced and untrained bouncers will fall back on their physically aggressive instincts to solve what should have been a crowd management problem addressed in the planning stage. That's why these things can happen. Duty of bar bouncers A bar bouncer is supposed to monitor the crowd so everyone has a good time but within reasonable limits. Watch that everyone behaves according to the rules of conduct. Patrons don't become overly intoxicated. Or become bothersome to others. The best bouncers are personable, and friendly and can talk to intoxicated patrons without appearing threatening or intimidating. After all, these customers are the same welcomed guests that you admitted at the door, charged an entry fee, and served your food, and your intoxicating alcoholic beverages. Bar management has a responsibility to protect them in the same manner as any other guest. The best bouncers know that their job is not to bounce anyone…but rather talk to people. The mere presence of a well-trained bouncer will remind the patron that their conduct is being scrutinized and that their patronage can be revoked. Conch House Reggae Sunday Party Conch House formula for premises liability The owner of Conch House was the architect of the nature of this facility and what it became on this day. I’ve been told that it's family-owned and for many years it was a nice place to visit, have lunch or dinner, and relax overlooking the marina. I don't know why or when the nature of this family restaurant and bar changed to a wild entertainment facility, but on this day at least the party was executed poorly. The Reggae Sunday party promotion on this Memorial Weekend 2015 may come back to haunt the owners and managers when the lawsuits, that are sure to come, are served. More than likely, the lawsuits will allege failure to provide adequate security; and failure to properly hire, train, and supervise bouncers before turning them loose on the ...