N.Y. clubs to station 'BioBouncer' at the doors

May 30, 2006 3:41 PM

Pick a fight in some Long Island nightclubs and it won't be a brawny bouncer banning your return, it will be a cyber-bouncer, according to a New York Newsday report.

The BioBouncer, a high-tech computer and camera that analyzes club patrons' faces and stores the images, debuted Memorial Day in a pilot program at four Long Island Park nightclubs.

Queens-based JAD Communications and Security developed BioBouncer, a sleek metal pole topped with a light and digital camera that feeds data to an on-site computer. Company president Jeff Dussich tells Newsday that the camera would help curb club violence by barring troublemakers whose pictures had been taken previously by the device and saved in its database.

"The primary purpose of this system is to enhance the establishment's security," Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department, tells Newsday. "It's importance to law enforcement remains unclear."

To protect the rights of clubgoers, Dussich said the cache of images taken on a given night by BioBouncer are automatically deleted every 24 hours. Only those images of patrons identified by club management as troublemakers are saved in the database.

Standing guard by a club's entrance, BioBouncer's camera will take photographs while a human bouncer checks IDs, pats down pockets and collects cover charges. Clubs will post signs telling customers of the device's presence.

The saved images will be shared by other clubs using the device. In many ways, this compares with what casinos do to keep out cheaters. If one casino posts the photograph of a cheater, other casinos can keep a lookout for that offender and bar that person from entry.

Last year, Nassau County police responded to 131 calls for various reasons at the four Island Park clubs signed up with BioBouncer. Nine arrests resulted in charges, including assault and disorderly conduct, police records show.

BioBouncer's initial cost is $3,000 to $5,000, then there's a $600 monthly fee.

In addition to having its own light source, BioBouncer compares multiple images to increase accuracy. For example, if 17 images match 20 stored images of a rowdy customer then "that's a pretty good match," Dussich says.

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