Bars to share info on patrons as capital prepares to welcome Lions

Wellington’s nightlife barons have banded together to try to curb unruly drunken behaviour and crime, tightening their surveillance and information-sharing systems ahead of an influx of Lions supporters flooding the capital.

Matt McLaughlin - who owns Dirty Little Secret, Jack Hackett’s, Four Kings and Danger Danger said his bars and about eight others in the Cuba St and Courtenay Place precincts had begun trialling the ‘‘Heads Up’’ initiative to crack down on anti-social behaviour. It involves using their network of bouncers to monitor and identify problem punters.

Theft, sexual assault, violence and intoxication were the focus. It would initially involve bar managers and heads of security liaising with police and sharing information, GoPro camera footage, photos and tips with each other as they track and red-flag potentially troublesome drinkers.

Bouncers at McLaughlin’s bars had been fitted with GoPros for about two months.

Alcohol pre-loading was the main trigger for trouble, which often flared up inside or on the doors of bars and clubs.

Owners, staff and security workers were sick of intoxicated people being rejected from one bar, straightening up for as long as it took to get into the next one, then causing more trouble.

The new system allows bar managers and security heads to give each other an early warning on trouble makers while also keeping an eye on fighting, vandalism, thefts, sexual assaults and intoxication in the party zone.

Although the initiative was targeted at locals, the expected 17,000 visitors into the capital for next week’s British and Irish Lions matches would be a good opportunity to test the system, McLaughlin said.

Police harm reduction manager Inspector Shane Cotter said police backed any co-ordinated effort by bar owners to make the city safer.

Overseas research suggested on-body cameras changed behaviour for both bouncers and patrons, often de-escalating any tension that might arise, he said.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said the ‘‘closed loop communications system’’ had evolved out of the successful Eyes On initiative, in which more than 400 CBD retailers shared CCTV footage and images of offenders with a security company, which immediately sends a text message and email warning alert to other retailers.

❚ More on the tour: A6, C1, D1