Inspection System Review 2008 – Using Risk Assessment for Compliance Activities

1. Inspection System Review 2008 – Using Risk Assessment for Compliance Activities Alcohol and Gaming Division Investigation and Enforcement

2. Background • Alcohol and Gaming Division (AGD): • Liquor Control Act • Gaming Control Act • Theatre and Amusement Act • Smoke Free Places Act

3. Background • 2900 Licensed Premises • 1100 in Halifax Region • 40,000 Inspections • 14,000 in Halifax Region

4. Background – Compliance Officers • 24 Compliance Officers: • 8 Compliance Officers in Halifax area • Approximately 1500-2000 inspections per officer per year. (excluding Casinos) • Typically Inspecting: • Liquor Premises • Near full-time staffing at both Casinos • Bingo • Film

5. Background – AGD Focus • Liquor Licensed Premises: • Underage • Intoxication – Over Service • Patron Accommodation – Over Crowding

6. Types of Liquor Licences • Eating Establishment: A restaurant serving: beer, wine, and other liquors to accompany meals. • Lounge: A premises with an Eating Establishment License serving beer, wine, and other liquors, with or without food service. • Cabaret: A “large scale” establishment featuring live entertainment, serving beer, wine, and other liquors. (Food service not required, open later)

7. Types of Liquor Licences (cont’d) • Beverage Room: A pub style facility serving beer and wine only (no hard liquor). • Club: Organization with club facilities for members and their guests. • Special Occasion: Private functions such as weddings, anniversaries, banquets where liquor is given away or community fundraisers where liquor will be resold. • Special Premises: Nature of business does not allow them to qualify for any of the other forms of liquor licensing.

8. Premises - Halifax Area * For simplicity this presentation will focus on liquor inspections only.

9. Background – Why Change? • Dec 2007 – Incidents in DT Halifax identified a need to review our Inspection System. • April 2008 – Senior Management requested review of inspection system and Halifax Area territories. • April 2008 – Officers and staff were requested to submit proposals on inspection criteria.

10. Scope of Risk Assessment Review • Focus on Halifax Region • 8 Compliance Officers (and 2 in Casino Halifax) creates greater flexibility. • Smaller geographical area per Compliance Officer territory.

11. Former Inspection System • All Liquor Premises scheduled to be inspected once per week. • Pros: • Consistent – Fairness to ALL Licensees • Easy to implement/maintain • Cons: • Large number of premises were inspected more often then required: • Example: Small restaurant, closes each night at 11pm inspected the same amount as a large downtown cabaret or lounge.

12. Risk Assessment Review – Goals • System must be fair to Licensees • Increase in inspection to a premises must be justifiable • System must be fluid enough to work on a ‘case-by-case’ basis and structured enough to allow for consistent application • Projected total number of inspections must remain close to current • No additional resources available

13. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Review past incidents for trends • Brainstorm ideas from front line staff: Compliance Officers • Developed the 4 Major Criteria: • Type of license • Size of Establishment: • Patron Accommodation • Demographics: • Dance Club vs. Dining • Past/Future Events: • Non-Compliance, Police Reports, License History, Complaints, Special Events

14. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Type of License

15. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Patron Accommodation: • Simple Numbers Game: • the more people  the greater the risk of incident. Number of Licenses by Patron Accommodation

16. Total Premises and Incidents

17. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Patron Accommodation: • More Difficult to Evaluate: AGD records maximum number of people permitted in a premises, however a larger premises may not necessarily have large numbers of people • However it can be noted: Premises with 500 or more patrons warrant closer attention

18. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Premises Demographics: • Dining Room Atmosphere: Lower Risk • Background Music • Tables • Typically: Single Server per Patron • Dance Club Atmosphere: Higher Risk • Music as Primary Source of Entertainment/Dancing • No Tables – Areas of Over Crowding • Less Service Control • More Individuals Under 25

19. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Premises Demographics: Dance Club Atmosphere:

20. Identifying Risk Assessment Criteria • Past/Future Events: • Contravention of the Regulations • Noted by Compliance Officer • Police Reports • Intoxication, Control, etc. • License History • Public Complaints • Special Events • Cheap Drinks, Pub Crawls, Special Entertainment

21. Applying Risk Assessment • Need to Select One Criteria to Establish a Baseline Inspection Frequency • Unanimous agreement, the most significant criteria: Type of License

22. Applying Risk Assessment • Baseline Inspection Frequency: • 2 per Week: Cabaret • 1 per Week: Lounge/Eating Establishment and Beverage Room • 2 per Month: Club • 1 per Month: Special Prem., and Eating Establishment

23. Inspections and Incidents

24. Inspections and Incidents - Projected

25. Applying Risk Assessment • Developed Four Baseline Risk Levels: • Level 5 - Extreme Situations (Public Safety): • 3 (or more) Inspections per week • 2 (or more) Compliance Officers per Inspection

26. Applying Risk Assessment - Other • Options for Addressing Other Risk Criteria: • Permanent or Temporary Increase to Inspection Level • Example: Lounge from Level 3 to Level 4 • Targeted Inspection • Specific Day or Time of Risk • Increasing Number of Compliance Officers • Targeted During Quarterly Sweeps (4-5 Compliance Officers per Inspection)

27. Applying Risk Assessment - Other • Patron Accommodation and Demographics: • Permanent Risks: • 400+ Patron Accommodation • Typically Operating Close to Capacity. • Dance Club Atmosphere: Areas of Over Crowding • Action: Permanent Increase of Risk Level, to a maximum Level 4. • Short Term Risks fall under Past/Future Events

28. Applying Risk Assessment - Other • Past/Future Events: • Wide Variety of Higher Risk Events: • Contravention of Regulations • Special Events: • Drink Specials ($1 Drinks) • Concert / Live-to-Air • Loss of Control - Large Scale Fight • Police Report: Multiple Arrests for Intoxication • Compliance Officer Notes - New/Inexperienced Bar Staff • Compliance Officers finds Potential Over-Crowding

29. Applying Risk Assessment - Other • Past/Future Events: • Wide Range of Possible Action: • Increase Risk Level for a set period of time or until concerns are corrected • Attempt to avoid risk all together and raise concerns to Licensee prior to the event • Coordinating efforts with Police for a joint effort • Immediate Repeat Inspection: Same/Next Day

30. Applying Risk Assessment - Other • Application of the Past/Future Events is Considerably more subjective than “Type of License” • Therefore: • Any inspections in additional to the Baseline quota must be followed up with an Officer’s report to file explaining the incident. • A recommendation for a longer term Risk Level Increase will be Evaluated between Compliance Officer and Supervisor

31. Risk Assessment Review – Goals • System must be fair to Licensees • Increase in inspection to a premises must be justifiable • Data to support the current change • Report to file for any additional changes in inspection frequency

32. Risk Assessment Review – Goals • System must be fluid enough to work on a ‘case-by-case’ basis and structured enough to allow for consistent application • Monitor and Review is ongoing, no permanent inspection frequencies changes have been made so far however some needs have been identified: • Inspection Frequency for Lounges needs to be broken down to High and Low Risk lounges, consider reducing inspection frequency for lower risk lounges. • Consider increasing Special Prem. Inspections.

33. Risk Assessment Review – Goals • Projected total number of inspections must remain close to current • Before: 13,981 • After: 14,259 • However showed a clear need for an increased Compliance Officer presence in Downtown Halifax • Before: Only 1 CO was on duty each night in DT Halifax • After: 2 COs on duty each night in DT Halifax

34. Conclusion • Based on information provided by officers, staff, and management, this is an initial step in a new method to conduct our inspections of licensed premises. • Ultimately this is a culture shift and a change in the way we do our inspections, will take some time. • Thus far (4 Months in) results have been very positive, still working on developing communications to support the system.