Being a bouncer can be tough. Your primary duty is dealing with members of the public whose primary goal is to drink.

The trial over the February death of Charles Lovelady in the Des Moines nightclub Graffiti’s recently ended with the jury finding bouncers Jeff Portman and Tom Dueber not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

The trial has raised questions about the use of force by bouncers.

Campustown bar owners are quick to assure us that they do not advocate the use of violence and prefer their employees to call police when trouble occurs. For that they should be commended.

But anyone who has spent time in bars can tell you that occasionally trouble starts at the door, especially when bouncers take their own authority a bit too seriously.

Not all bouncers are attitude cases, but one is not often surprised to encounter a cheeky, musclebound guardian of the door cracking wise and acting like the biggest guy on the cell block.

This can be a recipe for disaster when drunks are involved.

Good judgment is often the first thing to go when college-aged bar patrons are drinking. The last thing most want to encounter is what amounts to a security guard in a T-shirt who knows if he starts something, his word is better than a drunks.

If the case of Charles Lovelady has shown us anything, it is that even though the bouncers in question were found not guilty, a man still ended up dead because a bouncer didn’t like the way he was dressed.