Club Security Not To Be Fooled With
by Kevin Hammond (Kato)
 

It was the beginning of March.  The weather was cold.  There they were - all dressed in black fatigues and ski mask.
As we prudently turned onto Adams Place, two of them approached our car.  I rolled down the window.
"Are you with the band?" one of them asked.
"No," I replied.  "We’re just here to present some awards to the band."
They then directed us to where we were allowed to park the car.

As we proceeded towards the two compliant rows of patrons awaiting their turn to be safety checked and enter the venue, I couldn’t help but contemplate how things had changed from the Howard Theatre days of simply being ordered to get back in line by Mr. Robinson and his billy club.
The last time that I had been through a occurrence like this, I was stationed in Germany and things were getting tight because Khadafi had been cutting up again.

Let’s face it, regretful as we would like to admit it, things have actually come to this.  Last year’s incriminating incident at the Del Rio club and the sadly tragic shooting of an on duty police officer outside of the Ibex night club are prime examples.  Isolated as these two occurrences may be, they have triggered serious concern of parents regarding their children’s safety at the Go-Go.

Yet, in spite of the eccentric process in which we entered the club, there was a sense of comfort in knowing that we could simply party free from concerns of gun shots ringing or anyone getting shanked.  That feeling of comfort was due to the efficient management of the Men In Black Security Team.

There have been a lot of different security forces that have worked in Go-Go and the violence and crime basically increased, instead of decreased.  Then all of the sudden, out comes MIB -- a security company that has surfaced out of nowhere, yet makes such a strong impact everywhere.

Chief Blue, originator and administrative leader, established  MIB on the foundation of concerned parents.  In fact, practically every member of MIB is a parent.  This force, made up of trained men and women, understands the importance of putting their hearts into their services.  In short, they have vowed to do what they expect any other adult to do if their children attended a Go-Go – protect them.

Chief Blue:
What got us into this is the bad publicity that Go-Go has been receiving over the years.  Now, if you really take a look around and notice, you will find that Go-Go hasn’t received as much bad publicity as just a year ago.  Because of that statistic, on the behalf of MIB, there are now people, as well as the bands who ask who the security team will be.  They have gotten to the point where they won’t even play or attend certain places unless MIB are there.

MIB came into existence only a year ago by volunteering their assistance at the Go-Go.  They would simply show up and begin to help manage the crowd.

Asked by law enforcement officials why they were doing this, Chief Blue’s answer was simple.  "To make Go-Go safe enough for the kids to come in from the streets.  If we can make the Go-Go safe, even if it’s just one kid, that’s one kid’s life who we may have saved - who we don’t have to worry about being a statistic."
That’s the kind of answer that has awarded MIB 100 percent support from the police department.

In just a short time, MIB’s voluntary support created so much attention that organizations, fascinated by their system, began hiring their services.   In fact, that’s exactly how they have obtained most of their businesses – through proficient work performance and professionalism – a professionalism, I might add, that has even awarded them work at such events as the MCI Center, Hotels, and political affairs.   Today, MIB controls 96% of the Go-Go industry, in and out of the city.   The request continues to grows more and more.

More than just a team that’s categorized differently from any other security force, MIB’s decision of the military fatigues surfaced to manifest a distinctive look.  Still, they don’t just dress the military look, Chief Blue, who is an ex-military police for the Army National Guard, runs the organization the military way.

Chief Blue:
When we first volunteered our services, we didn’t have the name Men In Black.  Everyone just simply wore black fatigues and the name just grew with the group.  It became a perfect name for the organization.
Uniformity is a plus within an organization.  It tends to change your work performance.  It motivates you more.   No doubt the name MIB will automatically draw attention, therefore we know that we must be the type of organization that draws attention,  just as the name does.  Discipline is one of  our strongest assets.

Another reason organizations endorse them is because they have what is considered to be the "thorough-est search."  Yet, despite the commendable reports and statistics that have produced as a result of the MIB team, they do have their share of criticism from a lot of the patrons.  Many are not pleased by the manner in which MIB performs their security searches.

Chief Blue:
I simply tell them that it’s no disrespect.  It’s just for your safety. There are people who complain that MIB is searching your ‘balls’.  If that’s what it takes to protect what we are hired for, then that’s what we will do.  However, at the same time, we will not tolerate disrespect of the security.  For example, the band members.  We respect them because they are band members.  They have come to do their jobs,  so let us do ours.  Some of them tend to get upset when we perform security searches on them.  For one, if people see that a band member is allowed to enter without getting searched, they tend to ask why.  Another reason is that if a band member enters into a club with a weapon and something happens, the question will be how did that weapon get into the club.  It will become the fault of the security.  Entertainers can shoot people too.  They may have enemies that no one even knows about.  A situation can also happen where a band member can have a friend who may ask him to carry a weapon in because they know that he will not get checked.
You asked for tight security, and that’s what you’ve got.

Chief Blue went on to tell us about a program he once heard on the radio in which a kid called the station and talked about his feelings towards MIB.

Chief Blue:
To hear a little child on the radio say that he isn’t scared to go to the Go-Go because he knows that MIB are there is one of the best forms of payment that we can receive.

MIB can be found controlling many of the most popular city spots, such as the Icebox, Capitol City Pavilion, Barnetts, The LePena,  Taj Mahal, and The Club, to name a few.