Police-in-Denny's Measure

A few days ago, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett signed a measure "to let taverns and nightclubs pay for on-duty police officers to handle their security."

The council voted 10-4 to back the measure, sponsored by Ald. Willie Wade, who argued that, considering how often police are called to bars and clubs, it would be better to have the officers there all night, at the bars' expense, instead of calling them away from patrolling neighborhoods.

Perhaps Wauwatosa should consider a similar proposal for the Denny's at 11155 W. North Ave.

From WauwatosaNOW.com:

Over the last 12 months, Wauwatosa police have responded to the restaurant at 11155 W. North Ave. more than 160 times.

Wauwatosa's chief of police is worried.

"The amount of incidents and the type of incidents we have had there are definitely a concern," Barry Weber said this week, after another incident over the weekend. "When you see that many incidents, where larger groups of people are present when those incidents occur, we need to review the situation."

Most calls to the 24-hour restaurant come between 1 and 3 a.m. and are for disorderly conduct, but police also have responded numerous times for theft, fraud, suspicious persons, battery and weapons violations.

160 TIMES?

Why has it taken so long to note that there seems to be a bit of a problem at this Denny's?

...When officers responded about 2 a.m. Dec. 8, they found a large group of people outside and between 100 and 150 people inside the restaurant trying to push their way out after a fight broke out. Police pushed through the crowd, to find the fight had stopped and one man bleeding from the face. No arrests were made because no one, including the victim, would provide any information on the suspects.

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. Nov. 24, police arrested a 23-year-old Milwaukee man at Denny's for battery after he punched a man multiple times. During that fight, many people fled and the restaurant was left with $487.41 in unpaid bills.

Weber said the restaurant caters to an after-bar crowd, which makes for a volatile environment despite the presence of the restaurant's security guard.

Watch just how volatile the environment can become.

Video: Fight at Denny's

That's a large crowd for so late at night. I bet that Denny's must be doing pretty well in terms of business, unless people make a habit of fleeing the restaurant during disturbances, leaving lots of unpaid bills.

I wonder if the restaurant's lone security guard is armed.
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TMJ4 reports:

Late Thursday afternoon, Denny’s announced changes because of the serious problems. They say the location will close from midnight until 5:00 a.m. on weekends. They're deciding whether to make that change permanent.

After the media picked up on the story of all the trouble at this Denny's location, it doesn't surprise me that the decision was made to close that restaurant between midnight and 5:00 AM.

A police-in-Denny's plan, similar to Milwaukee's police-in-taverns measure, could be the answer.

Or maybe, like Mayfair Mall, Denny's could try a carding policy. People under 30 need to be accompanied by someone who can order off the Denny's Senior Menu (For our guests 55 and older).

That probably wouldn't work. Denny's might be sued for age discrimination. Then again, it could be argued that the Senior Menu itself is discriminatory.

Obviously, there are no simple solutions when you have a clientele seemingly incapable of behaving.