Kormákur Geirhardsson, board member of the Association of Nightclub Owners, announced last weekend that certain individuals who are known for violent behavior will be barred from entering nightclubs in Reykjavík henceforth.
“It is in everyone’s interest to stop violence,” Geirhardsson told Fréttabladid.
According to Geirhardsson, a certain group of people has repeatedly been caught starting fights inside nightclubs in Reykjavík and it is the intention of nightclub owners to collect information about these individuals and create a database which their staff can use to identify them.
“We have a website where we intend to display pictures of these men so bouncers can memorize their looks and refuse them entry,” Geirhadsson said, adding that fights frighten guests and have a bad influence on business. He believes violence will decrease if certain individuals are not allowed to enter nightclubs.
“It is, for example, best to stop people like that guy who is always beating the best footballers because he can’t play himself, immediately at the door,” Geirhardsson said, referring to a man allegedly involved in recent attacks on footballers Hannes Th. Sigurdsson and Eidur Smári Gudjohnsen as well as in breaking a man’s leg inside nightclub Apótek between Christmas and New Year.
Geirhardsson hopes to increase cooperation between nightclubs and police. “They are understaffed but we have nearly 300 people working as bouncers and it will increase safety in downtown Reykjavík if these parties work together.”
Capital Region Chief of Police Stefán Eiríksson said nightclub owners have the right to refuse repeat offenders entry and that he has suggested such measures before.
Eiríksson pointed out that it is difficult to identify such individuals, though. “Last fall we investigated whether some individuals cause more trouble than others but found out that they didn’t belong to a limited group of people.”
“The most aggressive individuals had only committed two or three crimes, though that may have changed in the last few weeks,” the police chief added.
