Bar Watch launched downtown
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Updated: July 09, 2009 1:03 PM
Downtown bars and police announced their joint commitment to a Bar Watch surveillance program Wednesday.
The system is designed to discourage unlawful activity by requiring patrons to submit their drivers’ licence to a scan as they enter participating bars.
“You will no longer be able to hide behind the veil of anonymity,” said Victoria police Const. Lori Beauvai at the media launch.
Thirteen downtown bars have signed on to the $4,600 technology by Treoscope Technology. The Downtown Victoria Business Association is providing a 25 per cent grant to help cover the costs.
Bar Watch works in two ways.
First, if any crimes happen in the bar, patrons records are submitted to police to help them identify the criminal.
Second, bar managers can submit notes about misbehaving patrons into the electronic database. The alert message will appear the next time the patron tries to enter any participating bar, so staff can choose whether to ban the person.
The move to embrace Bar Watch in Victoria comes weeks before B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis is due to release the findings of his inquiry into the system. The matter came before the commissioner in 2006 after a Vancouver bar patron complained.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association backed the complaint, arguing the practice of scanning and storing personal information violates the Personal Information Protection Act.
rholmen@saanichnews.com
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