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 Cabaret Lounge/ Bev. Room Club Special Prem./ Eating Estab. Baseline Risk Level: 4321 Baseline Inspections Per Month 8421

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.