A TAVERN IS A WATCH PARTY WITH A COVER CHARGE.

In the wake of last Friday's watch party turned gang fight, Milwaukee's government and the Bucks are working on providing a safer space for casual fans to hang out.  There will be plenty of time to work out the arrangements, with the Bucks excused on Sunday.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman said he would support a downtown security boundary to curb violence, according to our partners at the Milwaukee Business Journal.

"(I'm) supportive of something of that nature, but that's beyond my wheelhouse," Norman told the Business Journal. "I know that (idea) was floating around last year. I believe that may be floating around again this year."

Should something like that be implemented in the city of Milwaukee, it would be up to city agencies and elected officials to draw the boundaries and establish rules for the area.

Norman told the Milwaukee Business Journal that he would also "absolutely" support metal detectors being placed at the entrance to a possible security perimeter to detect concealed firearms and help with the flow of traffic into the secured area.

If you have bouncers, and possibly metal detectors, all that distinguishes your public watching area from a tavern might be the cover charge.  With security theater becoming common at street festivals, adding a cover charge to the security theater might not be a big deal.  "According to the Business Journal, other cities have instituted security admission fees for popular entertainment districts to help pay for additional security. But doing something like that in Milwaukee would require collaboration, Norman said."  In Milwaukee, the Bucks appear to be in accord.

"I think for us, (it's) very important to have a secure perimeter, you know? What does that mean and where does it extend it? We obviously kind of take Deer District proper as our land, but the theory would be how would you not extend that beyond the Deer District and really look at the whole entertainment district, as a way to create a perimeter," [Bucks president Peter Feigin] said.

WISN 12 asked the mayor's office about the possibility of expanding the secure perimeter into the entertainment district.

A spokesman said the mayor is interested in exploring every viable option and this is on the table.

Somewhere, though, the public safety creates opportunities for rent-seeking.

Some bar and restaurant owners in downtown Milwaukee say they want the Milwaukee Bucks franchise to be held more accountable for the violence that broke out Friday night in which 21 people were shot.

“I feel like we’re just left with whatever the Bucks want to do,” Old German Beer Hall owner Hans Weissberger tells Wisconsin’s Morning News. “I don’t feel involved in it (what goes on there), we see the schedule, we see what’s going to be happening there.”

“The Bucks have largely washed their hands of this thing by saying this didn’t happen in the Deer District, it happened around the Deer District,” he added. “That’s not the standard that we as bar owners are held to. If something happens in our neighborhood we are blamed for it even if we keep those people outside of our bar.”

Yes, and if the Bucks and the city stop collaborating on setting up outdoor really-big-screen televisions there will be more people looking for conventionally-big-screen televisions in the bars.

But wait, dear reader, there are even more rents to be sought.  The city's new protocols restrict food trucks on the streets around the arena complex.  There has long been a battle between people operating brick-and-mortar bars and restaurants and food truck operators.  Why not use "security" as a way to change the correlation of forces?

The City also announced plans to relocate food trucks that park along Water Street and Old World 3rd in an effort to cut down on loitering. Weissberger says loitering has only recently become an issue.

“The loitering issue on Old World 3rd Street has generally only been a major issue during these watch parties,” Weissberger said. “By having a free event that then has a limited occupancy at some point you’re giving people a license to loiter.”

He offered a few suggestions as to how he thinks the violence issues in Milwaukee can be, at least partially, solved. Weissberger says he would like the Bucks to tack on an attendance fee or mandate some time of registration for attendees at playoff watch parties.

That is, make the watch party have a cover charge, same as the bars?