The positive perception of reduced gang violence through a public safety initiative
| Author | Shaveta Gahunia,Andy Bain,Keiron McConnell |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X18780920 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The positive perception
of reduced gang violence
through a public safety
initiative
Shaveta Gahunia
Probation Officer, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Keiron McConnell
Kwanlten Polytechnic University, Dr Keiron McConnell is Professor of
Criminology, British Columbia, Canada
Andy Bain
Director of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Mount Union, OH,
USA
Abstract
Gang violence poses a significant concern for the police and the public. In response, in
2008 policing agencies in British Columbia introduced Restaurant Watch, a targeted
strategy aiming to deter unwanted gang-involved patrons from attending participating
restaurants. In response to a lack of research, the present study examines the per-
ceived success of the programme, through semi-structured interviews with key sta-
keholders participating in the programme. The findings sugg est the programme h as
value based on three important themes: (1) impact on public safety; (2) importance of
partnership and open dialogue; and (3) ability to deter inadmissible patrons from
participating establishments.
Keywords
Gangs, intervention, gang violence, problem-oriented policing, gang suppression
Corresponding author:
Andy Bain, Director of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Mount Union, 1972 Clark Avenue, Alliance, OH
44601, USA.
Email: bainaj@mountunion.edu
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2019, Vol. 92(2) 167–188
ªThe Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0032258X18780920
journals.sagepub.com/home/pjx
Introduction
This study examines the Restaurant Watch programme in the city of Vancouver, British
Columbia (BC). Restaurant Watch is a voluntary (and therefore self-selecting)
community-based initiative, which followed the success of Barwatch, a community
programme introduced in December 2007 after a series of violent events occurred in
bars and nightclubs in Vancouver, BC (Centre for Problem-Oriented Policing, n.d.). In
essence, the Restaurant Watch programme was created to target gang members frequent-
ing popular Vancouver restaurants and in doing so, to respond to the ongoing concerns
expressed by restaurant owners and police about the risk of victimisation that gang
members brought with them in public places.
Restaurant Watch is a public safety initiative, implemented in July 2008, and a
programme designed to help quell the scenes of public violence perpetrated by the gangs.
According to Bolan (2015) and others (Bailey, 2012; Bains, 2013; Skelton, 2009), much
of the violence took place in and around the licensed premises in the city of Vancouver,
and thus provided for greater concern around public safety. Ultimately, 86 people were
victimised by serious violence (shot or stabbed) between 1987 and 2014, and when these
same violent acts began to occur in upscale restaurants where many of the city’s elite
socialised, public concern was piqued, the police became concerned and the media
became frantic. As gang-related shootings increased, the restaurant industry showed still
greater concern for the safety of patrons, who may unwittingly become the by-product of
gang violence, and initiated talks with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) regard-
ing the provision of a public safety initiative. The programme allows police officers to
eject ‘inadmissible’ individuals from (any of the 130) participating establishments,
thereby reducing levels of violence.
According to VPD, the objectives of the programme focus on three principles: patron
safety, staff safety, and public safety (Lott (personal communication), 12 December
2017). The objectives are to (a) reduce the threat of collateral violence to restaurant
patrons by deterring individuals who pose a risk to public safety; (b) reduce the inter-
action, intimidation, fear and harassment between restaurant staff and individuals who
pose a risk to public safety; and (c) deter public violence caused by organised crime
groups and their associates by making it known that they are unwelcome and will be
removed (VPD, 2016). Interested establishment owners are educated on the risks asso-
ciated with gang activity and are informed of the potential risks that gang members pose
when dining in their establ ishments. The legal framewor k of the Restaurant Watch
programme relies on sections 1, 4, 8, and 10 of the British Columbia Trespass Act,
whereby the owner/occupier or agent of the restaurant, which is considered a private
establishment, can authorise any person to act on their behalf to eject an individual. In
this scenario, the police department becomes the ‘authorised person’ who is permitted to
remove inadmissible patrons on behalf of the participating establishment (VPD, 2016).
Restaurant owners follow specific protocols if they have reason to believe that some-
one is known or suspected to be an associate of a gang member or involved in serious
criminal activities (VPD, 2016). If the police are called to an establishment to remove an
inadmissible patron, specific procedures are followed and are set-out in the Vancouver
Police Department Ejection Flowchart (see Figure 1).
168 The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 92(2)
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