By John Coté
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police are recommending that entertainment venues permitted by the city be required to have security cameras, metal detectors and ID scanners that electronically store a patron’s driver’s license information for at least 15 days as a means to counter recent violence outside nightspots, city documents show.
ID data would be turned over to law enforcement at their request, as would camera images, according to a draft of the police recommendations.
The department’s suggestions came at Mayor Gavin Newsom’s request as he and other city officials try to deal with nightlife-related violence in the wake of the Aug. 8 shooting of a German tourist just yards from her hotel in the theater district.
Newsom’s spokesman, Tony Winnicker, cautioned that the recommendations are preliminary and only one step in a lengthy process that includes input from club owners and promoters.
“The mayor asked for the most expansive list of possible steps that could be taken,” Winnicker said. “The idea is that we would narrow it down to the ones that would be both practical and prudent to ensure public safety inside and outside the clubs.”
Some of the department’s suggestions are likely to be opposed by civil rights advocates as an invasion of privacy, and club owners will probably view some as expensive and impractical.
The recommendations include requiring all security staff to be registered with the state Department of Consumer Affairs and requiring that venue owners create a security plan that meets the police chief’s approval.
Currently, the city’s appointed Entertainment Commission reviews security plans before granting entertainment permits.
A spate of shootings earlier this year prompted critics — including members of the Board of Supervisors and Newsom — to question whether the panel can effectively regulate clubs.
As drafted, venues would have to meet the conditions to receive an entertainment permit.
It’s unclear, though, if the new police recommendations would have prevented the death of German tourist Mechthild Schröer, 50. Schröer was hit by a stray bullet when at least three people opened fire outside an end-of-summer party at a Mason Street comedy club. No charges have been filed in connection to her death.
The event had no live music, DJ, alcohol or food and thus did not require an entertainment permit.
Copyright 2010 San Francisco Chronicle