Diego Arias had already taken out his change, keys and cell phone when he reached the bodyguards outside Fur nightclub for a routine pat-down one weekend night.
As he was checked from the neck down, Arias felt the bodyguard grab his back pockets in search of anything dangerous. Instead, the bodyguard found the one thing Arias forgot to take out.
"I got my ID snapped right in half," said Arias, a frequent clubber from Woodbridge, Va. "The guy grabbed it so hard it broke."
Purse searches, pat-downs, metal detectors and other forms of security are frequent at D.C. nightclubs. While several clubs have stringent security, violence has become an area issue after some high-profile incidents.
Earlier this month Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson attempted to close nine nightclubs in the county. The closures were initiated by a spate of violence during which 11 homicides occurred in as many days, two of which were directly connected to nightclubs. While a court order allowed five of the clubs to stay open with provisions, three of the original nine remain closed.
The District has been concerned with violence since a January murder in which 17-year-old Taleshia Ford was shot at the now-closed Smarta/Broadway, also known as Club 1919, at 1919 9th St., N.W.
Ford's death sparked debate over the presence of minors in clubs and on club security in general. D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham introduced the Youth Protection Bill in early February in an effort to make District clubs safer.
"(Ford's death) had everything to do with a total lack of requirements on underage persons in nightclubs in D.C.," Graham said in a statement. "The law unwittingly created the opportunity for a dangerous environment to be established and maintained at 1919 9th St."
The bill would require minors to have parental supervision after 11 p.m. during the week and after midnight on the weekend in any establishment serving alcohol. It would also allow clubs to beef up security by hiring off-duty police officers as bouncers. Public comment on the legislation was heard Wednesday, but a vote has not yet been scheduled.
As he was checked from the neck down, Arias felt the bodyguard grab his back pockets in search of anything dangerous. Instead, the bodyguard found the one thing Arias forgot to take out.
"I got my ID snapped right in half," said Arias, a frequent clubber from Woodbridge, Va. "The guy grabbed it so hard it broke."
Purse searches, pat-downs, metal detectors and other forms of security are frequent at D.C. nightclubs. While several clubs have stringent security, violence has become an area issue after some high-profile incidents.
Earlier this month Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson attempted to close nine nightclubs in the county. The closures were initiated by a spate of violence during which 11 homicides occurred in as many days, two of which were directly connected to nightclubs. While a court order allowed five of the clubs to stay open with provisions, three of the original nine remain closed.
The District has been concerned with violence since a January murder in which 17-year-old Taleshia Ford was shot at the now-closed Smarta/Broadway, also known as Club 1919, at 1919 9th St., N.W.
Ford's death sparked debate over the presence of minors in clubs and on club security in general. D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham introduced the Youth Protection Bill in early February in an effort to make District clubs safer.
"(Ford's death) had everything to do with a total lack of requirements on underage persons in nightclubs in D.C.," Graham said in a statement. "The law unwittingly created the opportunity for a dangerous environment to be established and maintained at 1919 9th St."
The bill would require minors to have parental supervision after 11 p.m. during the week and after midnight on the weekend in any establishment serving alcohol. It would also allow clubs to beef up security by hiring off-duty police officers as bouncers. Public comment on the legislation was heard Wednesday, but a vote has not yet been scheduled.
