Police have been cracking down on the night club scene in Providence, and it's not working.
It was another violent weekend in the capital city. A big brawl broke out at Club Fete on Dike Street. Dozens of people were involved, many of them were from out of state. That makes a third night club in just one month under fire.
Officers are fed up. Bar fights aren't rare in the city, but police said the large, violent brawls nearly every weekend need to stop.
A graphic dispatch call was released Monday of officers crying out for every patrol car on duty to respond to Level II on April 8th. Hundreds got into a brawl there that Easter morning and six people were stabbed, including a bouncer.
"A guy what I thought had punched me twice, so I pushed him out the door. He kept fighting and I got pinned against the wall, that's when I noticed my left hand was full of blood," bouncer Chris Bano testified at a licensing board hearing Monday about how he was stabbed in the hand and chest.
The board is deciding whether to close Level II down for good, which the mayor said at this point might be a good idea. The club has a history of violence.
"I think its very important our licensing board be very strict," said Mayor Taveras, "Making sure people who break the rules are punished, and I expect that that's exactly what is going to happen.
The stabbings at Level II are the first of three violent brawls at clubs in a month. Two women were hit with glass bottles at Monet Lounge. And Sunday, five people were arrested for a fight at Club Fete. Many of the people involved in these brawls are from the Boston area.
"It's being advertised that we're open until three o'clock in the morning, eighteen and above as well. That's a component to it, and we quite frankly have some bad club owners that are contributing to this," said Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare.
He said as a result, he's going to be enforcing strict security policies, including metal detectors and more club-hired bouncers. He plans on doing undercover stings to make sure they're following the rules.
We saw Monday at the license board hearing just how seriously the city is taking this. One bar owner denied an expansion, because he's in the same neighborhood as level two.
