The Regal Streets of Indian Lake Stadium 16 in Hendersonville has laminated signs posted on the doors advising patrons their bags and purses will be checked upon entry.(Photo: Lizzy Alfs / The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE — Moviegoers in Tennessee may have noticed a new security policy at some theaters in recent weeks: mandatory bag checks upon entry.

Regal Entertainment Group — the nation’s largest movie theater chain and the operator of several Nashville-area cinemas — quietly implemented bag checks at its theaters across the country after a string of violent attacks at theaters that has left 15 dead and injured 82 in a three-year span.

The most recent attack hit home for Tennessee residents, when 29-year-old Vincente David Montano carried a hatchet, airsoft gun and pepper spray into the Carmike Hickory 8 theater in Antioch on Aug. 5 and injured three moviegoers before police shot and killed him.

The Antioch attack came just two weeks after two people were killed and nine injured by a gunman at a theater in Lafayette, La. Meanwhile, James Holmes was sentenced to life in prison last month after he killed 12 people at a theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012.

In the weeks after the Antioch attack, Regal posted signs on the doors of its local theaters advising patrons of its new security measures. The company also updated the “admittance procedures” section of its website with the following message:

“To ensure the safety of our guests and employees, backpacks and bags of any kind are subject to inspection prior to admission. We acknowledge that this procedure can cause some inconvenience and that it is not without flaws, but hope these are minor in comparison to increased safety."

Security guards were stationed in the lobby of the Regal Green Hills Stadium 16 on a Saturday evening in late August, and a guard checked the theater after a late-night show. On a Wednesday afternoon in September, an employee used a flashlight to look inside bags and purses.

Regal’s new security policy is getting mixed reviews from Nashville-area moviegoers.

Signs are posted on the doors of Regal theaters in Middle Tennessee advising patrons of the company's new security policy to check bags. (Photo: Lizzy Alfs / The Tennessean)

“In terms of extra security measures, I don’t think it adds any value other than the perception of security,” said John Dinker, who visits the movies once or twice a month. “I don’t ever feel unsafe (at the movies) just because personally, I think logically in the sense that the statistical chance (an attack is) going to happen is so obscure.”

However, Stephen Jensen said he’s more reluctant to visit the movies after the recent attacks.

“I’m OK with a bag check, personally,” Jensen said. “I don’t see how a movie theater is that much different than any other sporting event or something like that where you might not go through a metal detector but you’re still getting checked.”

In a survey conducted in July by research firm C4, about one-third of 250-plus respondents said bags and purses should be searched upon entry. Other top security suggestions were metal detectors and armed security guards.

Movie-goers purchase tickets for an afternoon matinee July 24, 2015, in Dallas, a day after a gunman killed two moviegoers and himself at a theater in Lafayette, La. (Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)

Still, 75% of respondents said they feel very safe in movie theaters.

John Devino, director of operations for New York-based Global Security Services, which specializes in movie theater security, said the company has seen increased interest from cinema chains in hiring armed security guards since the Antioch attack. The company has roughly 500 security guards across the country, and Devino said many of those are active or retired law enforcement officials.

"We are definitely getting a lot of phone calls from some smaller chain movie theaters, having us come out to give proposals on what we recommend as far as security," Devino said.

Changes to security policies at movie theaters aren’t always as noticeable as bag checks or security guards.

With large multiplex cinema chains, corporate decisions dictate much of the security policies at their local theaters. At smaller, locally owned theaters, such as the Franklin Theatre in downtown Franklin, the security decisions are more flexible.

Teryl O’Connor, operations manager at the Franklin Theatre, said bag checks have not been implemented, but that does not mean they won’t be in the future. She said the development of security precautions is fluid and more is happening behind the scenes than people realize.

O’Connor would not specify all the measures the local theater is doing to keep patrons safe, but she said employees now keep their phones with them and the theater has worked with the Franklin Police Department’s SWAT unit to develop training for employees on how to deal with crises.

“We are taking security to the next level, and we’re trying to be aware of what is going on,” O’Connor said. “The SWAT officers have pointed out things we have never thought about, and we will be in the best prepared situation we can be in.”

Stephanie Silverman, executive director of Nashville’s nonprofit Belcourt Theatre, said the theater has upped its staff presence in both screening rooms and employees are paying closer attention to who is coming and going from the theater.

“We have manageable amounts of real estate — it’s a very different challenge when you have up to 27 different theaters in one complex — so we just are having staff presence in our theaters constantly, and we have projectionists in our booths keeping a constant eye on each theater space,” Silverman said.

When the Carmike Hickory 8 in Antioch reopened after Montano attacked three moviegoers, police officers stood at the entrance and watched for anything suspicious.

Since then, no bag-check policy has been implemented. The Carmike Cinemas Nashville-area manager did not respond to a request for comment.

On Tuesday, a reporter observed moviegoers going into the Carmike theater without having small bags and purses checked.

Antioch resident Daisy Hughes, who visits the Carmike in Antioch several times a week, said she’s not going to be afraid to watch a movie at the theater.

“I know I’m going to keep coming back,” Hughes said.

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