Pub crawling downtown bars in the wee hours especially on Friday and Saturday nights may be fun for some, but it's turning into a headache for downtown residents and police.

And it's not just a matter of complaints about noise.

"In recent years we've responded to numerous complaints about serving alcohol to minors, drugs and fights," says Deputy Police Chief Jim Johns.

Some bar owners agree there's a problem.

"In the last 5 or 6 years we've gotten these hoodlums, people from the inner cities in California," says Mark Haller, who with his partner, Tom Cladianos owns a downtown hot spot, the West Second Street Bar.
"They bring their inner city attitude. They don't respect our security people. They don't respect the police."

So, the city has asked the downtown bar owners to voluntarily agree to closing between 4 and 6 am. Haller says that's fine with him. In fact, he says they've been doing that already, but it won't solve the problem unless everyone agree.

"If they we throw them out they just go somewhere else and cause problems," he says. "If one does it, we should all do it. It's only fair."

And he adds downtown Reno is changing with more residential development. "You can't have 24 hour operation if you want residents."

The mayor has been quoted as saying he'd like to see bars close at two. A two o'clock closing time in Nevada.? He insists he was only trying to send a message.

"Some of the things we came up with are a little too much. We should be using a fly swatter instead of a howitzer. It's only two or three operators who aren't cooperating. They want to run all night."

The mayor says he wants this solve by a gentleman's agreement. "Like we have with the downtown liquor stores during Hot August Nights," he says. "i don't want to dictate anything to anyone, but we need to have that cooperation."

So, they hope to bring those others in line.

Unfortunately at least one bar operator we talked with says those hours are among his most profitable. He says increased police visibility in the downtown worked before and would work again.

Deputy Chief Johns says the department has been taking a targeted approach to the problem and that will continue.

Manpower, he insists, is not the problem. The problem is behavior.