Vancouver club with history of ‘violent and criminal behaviour’ fined $6K by liquor branch

The entrance to the Gallery nightclub in South Vancouver is seen in a file image.

A Vancouver nightclub has been fined $6,000 by a B.C. regulator for breaching the terms of its liquor licence after police were called to the premises for reports of a stabbing last year.

Gallery Show Lounge had its licence suspended for 14 days in April of 2024 because the club “garnered significant attention from law enforcement agencies” according to a decision from B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch.

In 2024, those “events” included a search warrant being executed as part of a drug trafficking incident, and several arrests following fights and disturbances. Police also told the liquor branch there was a record of “serious incidents at the establishment” dating back to 2022.

“The information indicated a pattern of violent and criminal behavior occurring inside and outside of the licensed facility that was not being addressed by the licensee,” the decision said. “This posed a serious risk of harm to patrons and to members of the public.”

In order to have the licence reinstated, the business was required to abide by a number of conditions. One was installing a video surveillance system that would retain data for 30 days, another was to keep a log of incidents at the club. The video was required to be turned over to law enforcement or the liquor branch upon request, and any authorities were to be informed of any “incident occurrences” via a written report, filed within 24 hours, the decision said.

Within a week, the club’s licence was reinstated, after an inspection satisfied authorities all conditions had been met, including that the video surveillance system was functioning as needed.

On May 2, 2024, around 3:30 a.m. police were called to the club for reports of a stabbing outside. The general manager’s description of what unfolded is included in the decision.

“He was closing up the facility when the security staff ran outside in response to disturbance in the parking lot. He followed them outside and saw about 15 people gathered in the parking lot. One of them was yelling and two were trying to fight. The crowd was asked to disperse, and it did so,” the decision said.

“There appeared to be blood on one individual, and he asked if anyone needed medical assistance. He was told they were fine.”

As part of the investigation into the stabbing, officers with the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crime Unit visited the club to request the surveillance video and were “were informed that the video system had not been recording,” the decision said.

Additionally, an incident report provided was not submitted within the 24-hour deadline and when it was it “lacked critical details of the incident including the stabbing,” the decision continued.

The business was handed an additional 14-day liquor licence suspension the day after the reported stabbing, the decision noted.

The inspectors who issued the branch’s Notice of Enforcement Action recommended an additional six-day suspension as the penalty for failing to record video and failing to submit the incident report within the deadline.

The club’s general manager opposed the additional suspension, emphasizing that neither breach of the licence requirement was deliberate. In terms of the video, the manager told the branch he was able to monitor the live feed and was unaware the system was not recoding.

A video technician who inspected the surveillance system submitted an affidavit to the branch, saying he determined there had been a “hard drive failure” and that the system was not set up to alert users when it was not recording.

“There is no evidence of intentional noncompliance or disabling of the system by staff or management,” the decision said. “The failure appeared to be due to an unforeseeable technical issue.”

The branch’s decision determined the failure to have a video system functioning as required by the terms of the licence was a “technical breach” as opposed to a “willful violation” and imposed a fine of $3,000 instead of a further licence suspension.

Missing the deadline to submit the incident report by six hours was also considered a technical breach of the terms of the licence, the branch found, fining the club an additional $3,000 similarly foregoing another suspension.