A Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»karaoke bar on West Broadway will be closed for 10 days this September after a ruling by the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB).
, located at 1001 W Broadway, will close from Sept. 6 to Sept. 16 after LCRB inspectors visited the karaoke bar in February and found a lack of security measures were being taken, according to a hearing decision issued by the LCRB on Aug. 27.
The bar came to the attention of the provincial authorities in January, after a Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»police officer reported it exceeded certain capacity measures, notes R. John Rogers, who oversaw the hearing. In the hearing documents, it's noted that Prive's representative, Raymond Huynh, claims the officer's allegations "were untrue."
In response to that incident, new conditions were imposed: Prive was required to get a new video system, an automatic ID verification system, and a weapons screening system. The documents reflect that Huynh expressed he believed those requirements to be unfair.
During a visit on Feb. 10, a VPD officer noted while a video system appeared in place, ID verification or weapons screening systems didn't appear to be in use.
Suspension tied to inspection findings
The licence suspension comes from an incident on Feb. 24 and 25, when an inspection team showed up at the karaoke bar.
According to testimony from an employee and security company representative in the LCRB ruling documents, the issues started early on Feb. 24.
A new security staff member had been assigned to Prive that evening and called to check in that he'd arrived to start his shift after parking his car; however, he never got inside.
"It appears that just after this employee had left his vehicle to proceed to the Establishment, he had heard something, came back to his vehicle, and found the window glass smashed, some of his possessions stolen from his car, and a person who was at his vehicle screaming at him," reads the hearing document.
The security staff member was frightened by the incident and left. He didn't tell his boss or the Prive staff.
Staff inside, not knowing what had happened and without a manager on duty, took on the duty of scanning IDs and checking for weapons themselves, according to a staff member who testified. She took on most of that responsibility; she added that she didn't let her bosses know until after the inspection team left.
Inspection team arrives
The inspection team arrived just after midnight and found no one watching the door, according to the hearing documents.
"The inspection team entered the establishment and, as no member of the (Prive) staff was stationed at the reception desk, they proceeded through the reception area without being asked for identification or being screened for weapons," reads the document.
The team spoke to the staff member to find out what was going on and she explained no one had shown up to perform security duties.
Around this time, the inspection team witnessed patrons walking in without being IDd.
In the staff member's testimony, she noted she was distracted by the inspection team and their requests to see Prive's security footage.
"She assumed that the other server was performing these tasks," reads the document. "She testified that if the security person had shown up, that the alleged contraventions would not have happened."
Penalties dealt
Rogers notes in his decision that Prive failed to comply with its liquor licence's new conditions.
While Huynh submitted to the LCRB that Prive had practiced due diligence, despite the failure, Rogers disagreed, stating "the Licensee has not satisfied the onus of establishing the defence of due diligence" and was therefore liable for its failures.
The LCRB alleged there were two contraventions: one for using an identification scanning system and one for not ensuring patrons had weapons. Rogers agreed and penalized Prive with two consecutive five-day suspensions starting Sept. 6.
