Last Updated: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 The Station’s Michael Derderian, Wins Early Jail Release For "Good Behavior" Updated: Friday, July 17, 2009 Police mug shot of Station nightclub co-owner Michael Derderian, police (undated). Michael Derderian, 49, co-owner of The Station nightclub was released from a medium security prison last month (June 25), after serving two years and six months of his laughable four year sentence in a minimum-security prison. Mr. Derderian was sentenced in 2006 for his role in the 2003 Great White concert tragedy at his nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island. He has returned to his Narragansett, Rhode Island home. News & Views readers may not have known of Mr. Derderian’s release because of the dramatic news of Michael Jackson's death the day after the club owner's release from jail. Nevertheless, it is doubtful anyone has forgotten the 100 people killed, more than 200 injured, and the hundreds of people emotionally scarred as a result of Mr. Derderian’s recklessly managed nightclub. Mr. Derderian co-owned the club with his brother Jeffrey, 42, and was at The Station when disaster struck. Jeffrey Derderian was not at the club on February 20, and received a mere 500 hours of community service for his role in the tragedy, even though the club was operating with innumerable fire and crowd safety violations. (The band's tour manager, Daniel M. Biechele, was the only other criminal defendant sent to jail. In 2008, he, too, gained an early prison release, having served only two years of his four year sentence. Mr. Biechele lives in Florida.) According to news reports, Michael Derderian was released from incarceration early because of his “good behavior” during his incarceration. Just think for a moment about how things would have been different had Mr. Derderian exhibited “good behavior” in the planning and management of The Great White concert at his club. But this was not to be the case. Mr. Derderian (and his brother Jeffrey) overcrowded the nightclub, failed to equip the club with proper fire suppression equipment, installed illegal flammable materials throughout the concert stage area, hired untrained security guards (but not to worry, they could pour beer for customers while on duty), failed to develop an emergency exit plan for the club, and allowed, or did not prevent, the Great White band from igniting pyrotechnics without a state license. Mr. Derderian told the news media upon his release last month that he’s going to publicly speak to anyone who will listen to him about fire “prevention and education.” Sorry, Mr. Derderian, the historic video taken by WPRI-TV News videographer Brian Butler does a more persuasive job warning people not to repeat your inexcusable actions than you will ever be able to do. And researching the Great White concert tragedy in The Providence Journal or other area media would offer people a more honest appraisal of what happend at your club and why. And when it comes to educating the public, there exist numerous organizations more credible and compassionate in delivering a fire and crowd safety message. Too bad you didn’t listen toany of them when it could have made a difference. [ home ][ crowdcafe ][ new ][ crowdshop ][ contact ] Crowd Management Strategies © 1997 - 2006. All rights reserved. Crowdsafe is a registered trademark of Crowd Management Strategies © 2006.