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The History of Door Supervision.
Introduction.
The whole of the security industry is currently in the process
of being transformed, and the role of the Door Supervisor has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years.
Now subject to strict criteria and a Criminal Records Bureau check, many people who used to earn money from Door Supervision
have found themselves unable to work by failing to meet the standards set by the S.I.A.
The 'Bad Old Days'.
In days of old, the 'bouncer' was generally paid (in cash) by the
landlord to stand around at the end of the bar or near the door and intimidate the customers into behaving. Whilst this was
ok in theory, in practice most of the trouble actually ended up being started by the very people being paid to stop it.
These people would then disappear before the police arrived and, if caught later on, would invariably deny ever having visited
the premises.
The Introduction of Licensing.
In the 1980's, the authorities decided enough was enough and introduced
a licensing scheme which was pioneered in the City of Westminster before being adopted by the majority of local
councils across the U.K. This involved door supervisors registering their details with the local council in the area
they wanted to work in.These schemes were generally successful in reducing the number of 'thug bouncers' but were limited
in their effectiveness because, as each council issued there own badge and operated independantly from the other councils,
a 'bouncer' could be suspended from working in one district but continue to work in another, which they frequently did.
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National Licensing Scheme-The S.I.A.
The abuse of the local schemes led to calls for a national
scheme to be implemented, where one nationally recognised license would allow a door supervisor to work anywhere
in England and Wales. The governments response to this, and other failings in the security industry, was the creation
of The Security Industry Authority which was set up as part of the Private
Security Industry Act 2001 in
order to set and raise the standards within the security industry as a whole. As door supervision had one of the worst reputations
with in the industry, it was targeted first by the S.I.A. Where are we now?
As a result of legislation introduced in The Private Security Act
2001, it has been a criminal offence for anyone to work as a Door Supervisor without a licence issued by the Security
Industry Authority since June 2005 with a fine of up to £5000 or 18 months imprisonment for those caught. It is also
against the law to employ a Door Supervisor unless you hold an S.I.A. license yourself. If you employ a door Supervisor without
holding a license yourself, or employ a Door Supervisor who does not hold a license, you face a fine of upto £20,000 or five
years imprisonment. Has it worked?
There has been an improvement over the last couple of years but, due to the size of the task facing
the S.I.A., there are still many landlords willing to run the risk of using unlicensed door supervisors and plenty of
people willng to work without a licence. The S.I.A. do have an active enforcement team that works in partnership with
local council officials such as Enviromental Health, Licensing Officials and Fire Officers. They also work closely with
the Police, Customs and Excise and the Department of Works and Pensions.
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