ID scanners start operating in 35 high-risk licensed Kings Cross venues from 13th June 2014

ID scanners will begin operating at up to 35 high-risk licensed venues in Kings Cross from this Friday.

The scanners are designed to enforce banning orders and improve the safety of the precinct, and anyone wanting to enter the clubs will have to provide some form of photo identification.

It is hoped the measure will prevent trouble-makers getting access to pubs after they have been banned elsewhere.

The information captured will be kept for a month and can be used by police investigating crime in the area.

Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch says the power will not be used lightly.

"Only inspectors and above can look at the information - the secure database. They need to have sufficient reason to interrogate the database," he said.

"The database is auditable and the information only stays there for 30 days. So we'll only be looking at that information to identify people who are alleged to have committed crimes."

Bourbon Hotel licensee Adam Gainsford is backing the plan.

"[I support] anything that's going to keep the idiots out of the hotels so our valued guests can come and enjoy the food and the entertainment that we put on week in and week out," he said.

"It'll make our jobs easier. It'll keep the assaults down and it'll keep the idiots away ... then it can't be a bad initiative."

The nightclub bans are one of the measures that were introduced by state and local governments to boost security and tackle alcohol-fuelled violence in Sydney's busiest night spots.

The State Government last year gave police new powers to ban people from nightclubs in Kings Cross in an effort to crack down on violence in the notorious nightspot.

The powers allow police to issue bans from licensed premises in Kings Cross for up to a year.

The death of Thomas Kelly in July 2012 prompted the introduction of the new conditions for some venues, including a ban on the sale of shots after midnight.

Kelly was hit in the head while walking along the popular nightclub strip with his girlfriend and died in hospital two days later.

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