Saratoga Springs bars band together to keep troublemakers out

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Saratoga Springs bars are increasing efforts to keep troublemakers out.

It’s part of the ongoing effort to make the community safer, which went into high-gear after a scene in the early morning hours of Nov. 20. Police fired at people involved in a shootout. All of them had been at bars in the hours before the gunfire.

The shootout had some in city government pushing for earlier closing times and even requiring metal detectors to get into the bar district.

While those efforts went nowhere, bar operators in the city are serving up some of their own changes aimed at keeping the bad guys out.

The first thing they’re doing is using an app that helps all the bars to instantly communicate with one another when someone’s causing a problem.

While the app addresses the immediate problem of keeping troublemakers out for the night, they’re also working on a more permanent solution. They say a trespass letter signed by all the bars would prevent people like those involved in the shootout from stepping inside any of the bars again or be arrested.

The operators are set to meet with police and fire departments again on May 17.