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Whatever Frank McCourt’s motivation, hiring of ex-police chief Bratton is still a chance to get security right

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So, guess it turns out Frank McCourt isn’t so satisfied with the security at Dodger Stadium after all.

After a week of getting battered by politicians and the media for his failure to respond to the beating of a Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, on Wednesday he hired ex-Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton to make suggestions on how to improve security in the stadium and its parking lots.

Hopefully, this proves an excellent move. Maybe Bratton will recognize the overall problem and make prudent recommendations that will actually be put into practice.

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I suggest he go undercover and go sit in the stands, not just with the hoity-toity where McCourt hangs out, but down the lines, in the upper decks, in the pavilions where the profanity can be staggering and too often a general aggressiveness permeates what is supposed to be enjoyable family entertainment.

In the wake of the Bryan Stow’s beating, the type of comments from fans received here and to The Times’ T.J. Simers have been staggering. It paints a truly ugly scene.

Yet it took not only a tragic incident, but the ensuing backlash to get McCourt to react a week later. As Sons of Steve Garvey’s anonymous Orel noted, McCourt’s indecisiveness and conflicting comments only fueled the negative response.

For a guy who has gone through PR types like batting practice balls, it’s amazing how McCourt continues to have an almost innate knack for screwing up.

If there’s no public outcry, no media pressure, does he hire Bratton? Turns out he hasn’t had a full-time head of stadium security for four months.

It would seem many of the needed measures are obvious -- increased numbers of security in the stadium and in the parking lots before and after games; a more aggressive security force that doesn’t put up with unruly fan behavior; better lighting in the parking lots -- though Paul Oberjuerge offers some more radical ideas.

Bratton and his firm have been hired as a consultant, so it’s not like this is some permanent move. He is going to work immediately, which is as it should be. He’ll make his suggestions, then it’s up to McCourt.

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Whatever the motivation, there is now an opportunity here and a chance to start getting it right.

-- Steve Dilbeck

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