Staff members at Paddy Malone's Irish Pub have witnessed many sorts of unsafe or predatory behaviors by customers -- one person trying to force another to drink, another person cornering a customer (or employee) or one person standing too near another.
Subtle body language can tip the staffer to a customer's discomfort, they said. Does this person's body language say, "No, I don't want this drink?"
"What kind of body language cues you in that somebody's not having a good time?" asked Haleigh Harrold, executive director of the Safe Bar Network.
Stiffness, quiet, refusal to make eye contact, staff responded. It could be as simple as the customer not drinking the drink someone else ordered.
Harrold provided Safe Bar training (active bystander skills) for staff members while the bar was closed Monday night.
"We partner with bars in their communities to increase safety," Harrold said. "People become aware that they can train their staff to learn active bystander skills to increase safety. They partner with us and schedule training. Sometimes they have an organization like RACS (Rape and Abuse Crisis Service) in their community that's already working to prevent violence and looking for innovative ways to do that."
The Safe Bar Network works with the entire team at a bar to build a culture where the staff uses active bystander skills to create the comfortable, safe and fun atmosphere needed to attract loyal customers, according to www.safebarnetwork.org.
Paddy Malone's became the first bar in Jefferson City to receive the training.
Being part of the Safe Bar Network is a lot more than just training, Harrold said.
"It is a commitment to increasing safety. One of the ways we get there is by facilitating a conversation with bar teams about noticing uncomfortable and unsafe behavior," she said. "Exploring all of the varied ways to interrupt and help in that situation. We really create a workplace culture where part of working hard is just looking out for people -- whether they are your co-workers or your customers."
The training starts with staff talking about the times they've noticed people uncomfortable and the things they've done in the past to help in those situations -- and ideas they have for the future, Harrold said.
All the staff members had stories to tell.
They discuss and think about -- as time goes on and new people start, or new customers come in -- how they can keep that focus on safety, Harrold continued.
RACS has a goal of getting all Jefferson City-area bars to offer the free training, teaching their employees how to identify unsafe behaviors and safely intervene to protect patrons and each other, said RACS Director of Outreach and Advocacy Victoria McBride.
RACS has been working on a sexual violence-prevention grant through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, McBride said. The organization had to come up with a prevention strategy for the city and Cole County.
McBride had to come up with a plan to offer community-level primary prevention of sexual violence for Jefferson City. One step was to offer select city and county employees Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training -- using design of buildings, landscaping and outdoor environments to discourage crime.
"Better visibility in parks. Or, better accessibility for ADA accommodations for sidewalks to help improve safety and reduce crime," McBride said.
Staff know alcohol is a contributor to domestic and sexual violence, she said.
"If we can talk with bars and try to get them to partner and learn about intervening during these acts of harm -- or during unsafe situations -- we can reduce sexual violence and domestic violence in Jeff City," she said. "So, that's my hope, is to have all of the bars in Jefferson City to be Safe Bar Network bars."
Marilee Tatman, owner of Paddy Malone's, said she was a board member for RACS for the past 10 years, and wanted to continue to be active with the organization.
Tatman was a social worker and nurse before she went into the bar business, she said.
The bar has postings in the women's bathroom, letting customers know how they might reach out to RACS during a crisis.
It's there to let people know if they don't feel safe, they have someone they can contact at RACS.
"It's always been very dear to me," she said. "This is one of the best ways of offering customer service -- to take care of your clientele. As you can tell (Paddy's employees) have learned this stuff. To me this is just making them more aware."