The safety of the members conflicting with the home atmosphere that clubs constantly strive towards, continues to present a serious dilemma for the private club executive. On the one hand, the safety of the individual member is always primary in the mind of the governing bodies. Conversely, most policy makers detest any form of security that smacks of regimentation and heavy handed police tactics. It appears that most are attempting to reach some sort of middle ground. Unfortunately, the middle ground (like trying to satisfy everyone) sometimes creates more unhappy than happy members.

It is not unusual to hear of muggings in the daytime at clubs surrounded by residential areas that were formerly considered secure from such incidents. When checking with those executives around the country, we found that their reactions ranged from "doing nothing" to the literal creation of a prison atmosphere. The most common appears to be the addition of a "deterring presence." Uniformed officers engaged on a part time basis and "on premise" during the height of membership traffic seems the most favored step to take. The intermittent employment is much less expensive than full time officers at the club entrance, and seems to have the maximum effectiveness per dollar expenditure. Others taking the route of full time security, complete with high fences and entrance gate houses, receive instant complaints about a police state atmosphere in their "home away from home." However, many clubs that "held to their guns" reached a point where the members accepted it as a normal condition, albeit the cost of such services are extremely high.

As with so many actions taken, or rules established, within private membership entities, the club executive is often in a "lose - lose" position. However, those that seem to have less problems and attain more membership satisfaction, are those that took action only after consideration of ALL factors. Those that held to this premise were often those that took advantage of outside security consultants. Not the ex-cop or industrial security consultant, but one that has worked with groups having similar elements as the membership club. Privacy and "discrete presence" were always of importance with such organizations. Most had experience working with residential areas containing expensive homes or public figures with strong privacy desires. ²