Meriden, CT, USA

Friday, 15 May 2009

Bouncers alert, but no change after killings

When bouncer Kevin Ferrara, an employee at the Hollywood club in Southington, learned that for a second straight week a Waterbury bouncer was killed, he said it certainly made him think about the job a little more. It's dangerous, it involves physical altercations with rowdy customers and he said he wouldn't want it any other way.

"No one becomes a bouncer if they are timid or worried about confrontations," he said. "It's a matter of looking out for each other. If you have the mentality that 'this guy is too big or too strong' then it isn't the job for you."

Bouncers and bar owners throughout the area said over the last two weeks that despite recent killings in Wa-terbury, they haven't done much to change the way they operate. The key to staying safe, they said, is remaining poised and making sure staff remain on the look out to keep each other safe.

Paul Vumbaco, owner of Quality Time Café in Meriden, said that is about the only option that exists for bouncers in the area.

"There's really nothing you can do to enhance safety," he said. "It's not like you can give the bouncers guns and just let them shoot people."