POLICE want the State Government to force licensed entertainment venues to scan customers with metal detectors before they can enter the premises.

The plan, suggested to Police Minister Michael Wright in a meeting with Police Commissioner Mal Hyde yesterday, is in response to the shooting on Gouger St on Sunday morning near a popular nightclub – the third on the strip in five months.

Mr Hyde wants metal detectors to be an immediate condition of the liquor licence of the Escobar nightclub.

He said police believed the alleged gunman was a customer just prior to the shooting.

Mr Hyde said there was no connection between the alleged gunman and the nightclub.