Dodger Stadium alcohol sales, security staffing, lighting will be reviewed, ex-police chief Bratton says

Former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton began to assemble a team of security experts to assess the situation at Dodger Stadium.

After coming under heated criticism for his muted response to an attack on opening day that left a Giants fan in a coma, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on Wednesday hired Kroll Associates, the security consulting firm run by Bratton, to make recommendations on improving safety at the stadium.

Bratton, in an interview with The Times, said the team would be looking at a wide range of issues, including lighting in the parking lots, staffing levels of security personnel and the organization's policy on alcohol sales.

A recommendation to curb beer and liquor sales at games would cause a serious conundrum for McCourt, since they typically account for a large portion of profits at sporting venues.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on Thursday announced a plan to significantly increase the number of police officers on patrol during games.

"You are going to see a sea of blue. And it's not going to be Dodger blue. It's going to be LAPD blue," Beck said of the beefed-up police presence planned for the team's next home game Thursday.

The chief said that "at the absolute minimum" he would double the 30 to 40 uniformed officers who typically are deployed at games. Beck declined to provide specific numbers, saying his staff was still working to determine how many officers were needed to provide more comprehensive coverage inside and outside the stadium. Along with the higher number of uniformed officers, Beck emphasized that undercover officers would be deployed as well.

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--Joel Rubin

Photo: Suspects sought by the LAPD in the attack on Giants fan. Credit: LAPD

Comments

[wthitc]

Isnt it ironic that management at bars, restaurants, stadiums and arenas all will stand up in support of the police effort against drunk driving but at the same time they dont want their ability to sell alcohol infringed upon.

[jimbo]

I think they should change the name of the Dodgers to THUG-GERS, hey Frank put that on a shirt, im sure you will sell out! Plenty of thugs in LA and make sure you make them XXXL since they were them like mini skirts. What a joke.
SEE my next comment.

[Douglas]

Thirty years ago people used to come to Dodger games to see baseball being played... and the Dodgers had some good teams. Notwithstanding that the Dodger teams have sucked since 1988, I observe that most fans DO NOT come to watch baseball. They come to drink beer, get drunk, socialize with friends, argue with other fans, swat at beach balls, get more beer, yell incoherent and useless things, spill beer on other fans, get more beer, stand up for the waves, go for a smoke, talk on their cell phones, make non-stop trips to the restroom to extricate what started as beer, get more beer, yell at their friends, yell at their wives, and finally drag themselves out after the game to drive home drunk. This is the Dodger legacy, the service the Dodgers provide to the community. The Dodgers should identify some days of the week when there will be NO alcohol at all, such as Friday nights. Then I could come and enjoy the game and not sit there in fear.

[Matthew]

Ugh LAPD officers wear black!

I admit I actually wrote to the Dodgers after the incident asking for more security in the parking lot after the games but I recommended a larger friendly force with ability to communicate to actual police when incidents occur.

A sea of LAPD "blue" is just as likely to keep me away from trying to enjoy an afternoon at the ball park as is the prospect of running into thugs. Not to mention heavy police turnout gets tempers up too.

Charlie Beck you are a jerk - now with all the outreach I've done to Giants fans and the Dodgers organization I feel like a criminal. I hate loud talk like that. How about being a little more a part of the community and talk about protecting families who want to see their legendary Dodgers play baseball. No you have to be all macho and try to scare people that the parking lot is about to become a police state.

As for alcohol sales in the stadium I think the best improvement they could make is hiring at least one fully functional employee in each concession stand. I fully support the Dodgers hiring folks who'd have trouble finding jobs anywhere else but the space-eyed lady who spends a good 3 minutes trying to put my lid on my cup (taking it off periodically to examine if it's faulty, but not bothering to try another) is in no position to determine if I'm too inebriated to continue drinking.

My wife bartends all over LA and every couple years has to go to ABC training (don't know if legally req'd but the restaurant sends her) and this is all about knowing how/when to cut people off.

I don't know if any of you have been to opening day but those who go all out (as I have done a few times) show up at about 630am around Academy and those little parking lots around the stadium so they can get a spot. Then from 7am to 1pm you drink. Maybe you'll crack a bag of chip at one point but there's nothing to do but drink and hide it when the cops start walking by.

No matter what the stadium does there's a lot of people walking in already wasted - no more than on opening day.

[Reader]

How ignorant to blame the boarders. It's ignorant minds such as these that cause these kinds of issues.

Too bad your ancestors didnt do anything better in furthering your mental capacity.

[jimbo]

Here is another idea for a Dodger shirt. I SURVIVED DODGER STADIUM or I SURVIDED DODGER FANS. Im sure all the out of towners will buy them on there way out! I will never ever go to a Dodger game again. I am a Angel fan and last time I was there they game me Sh!t for wearing that.

[jjj]

I have gone to giant and san diego games and all those time with my family verbal attacks stuff thrown at us with no cause other than wearing dodger blue I love the dodgers but the organization is screwed. The one thing I know is street smart if the dude looks drunk don't respond don't waist time with stupid people. what has happen is not right no one should be attacked for a game, but we have to out smart bad too. It is a sad world we live in but good and bad is among us we must deal with it and can't allow 2 people ruin it for all of us and for those of you choose to attack with words hispanic people mexicans what ever you want to call us remember we were here first we didn't crossed any border or traveled accroos the sea my ancestors were here before yours. Be good be right be awesome.

[Sean]

Assault is a deviant, not a device.

[Dodger Fan with an IDEA]

All fans at all stadiums should have an option to text from their phones for example to 51555 and write their seat number and section if they feel the need for security?

Police will be able to react immediately to the location, whether it is their seat or parking lot location.

Keep the beer, find a smart easy effective solution.

Go Dodgers.

[jt]

The guy in Arizona was mentally ill. The guys at Dodger stadium were thugs.

[Sandy]

Too bad it took McCourt so long to pay attention to his precious Dodger's unsafe situation! He should have to pay the medical costs for the victim!

These are the Raider's loose canons that have no place to cause trouble since the Raider's are up north now. It has been going on several years, and now that a fan has been seriously injured the security will be increased.

Why has someone not turned these scum bags in for the $100,000? In my way of thinking anyone who knows these guys committed this crime are aiding and abetting and need to be punished too. Come on, become a human being with compassion and stop more violence by putting these guys where they belong!

[ron davis]

everything about los angeles sucks.

[e smith]

Why wait for a near death experience to beef up security?? What a joke.

This is exactly what happens when you sell 200,000 beers to 40,000 people.

[RH]

This wasn't done by Dodger fans. Real dodger fans leave after the 7th inning.

[Really]

Why do they allow people to tailgate so early? This is what happens when you allow that and then let them go into the game DRUNK and drink some more! Where are the video cameras in the parking lot? That wouldve helped get security catch these thugs in the act. Maybe they should stop selling alcohol so those idiots that 'cant' live without it would stay home and allow people to actually enjoy the game. You can definitely do better than this Mr. McCourt! After all, Im sure it would cost less than what your soon to be ex-wife is spending on her clothes.

[GM]

Right on, Larry. LAPD & especially the Dodger "security staff" really need to step up and control unruly fans. I have field level seats behind the visitors dugout and on several occasions have had to move into other seats because the idiots behind us, who bought their tickets from Stub Hub or wherever, to the one game they'll attend all season, came to drink beer and harass the opposing team and threaten the fans around them with vulgar and obscene comments. Can't tell you how many times I have heard one of these fools say "I bought my ticket I can say whatever I want." No, fool, you can't. I have approached Dodger "security" staff about abusive and vulgar "fans"on several occasions and was told "we can't do anything unless we actually hear them say something." Really? If an entire section is getting verbally harassed by these idiots, how come security can't hear it? I'll continue to attend games, but this may be the last season unless something gives.

[Nick]

The thugs that did this are probably like all of the other thugs you see at the game- they are there to cause trouble and don't care one bit about baseball or the Dodgers. Dress code, curbing alcohol sales inside the stadium, and the no tailgating policy will not do anything. Other stadiums allow tailgating and they don't have these problems. It seems to me that the problem is the level of intoxication a lot of these thugs reach before game time by drinking in the parks around the stadium. Why isn't this addressed? Since the game was at 5pm instead of the usual 1pm start for the home opener, many idiots got an additional 4 hours of drinking time before the game. Security should work to identify drunk thugs and not let them enter and toss them out when they are causing trouble inside the stadium- that will be a good start.

[Mark Walcoff]

Toto - If you want to relate 1 shooter in AZ to what is thousands of gang bangers then please save us whatever it is that you're smoking.

Have you been to a Dodger game lately? Why don't you buy a ticket for yourself in the bleachers and see how you feel about your safety. The Dodgers quit selling beer out there for a reason!

[Mike Howard]

It's not the beer.. It's the Domestic Terrorists / gang member/street thugs.. They wait until after the game because they paid for there seats...The crowd cheers on idiots the bereave opposing fans during the game.... I was at that game and observed the police .. Most were just standing around in groups talking to each other.. Maybe they should start tossing out poor sport fans of either team instead of making the opposing fans turn there shirts inside out...

I have many fond memories of Dodger games as a youth.. It's a shame that my kids won't be able to say the same..

[Mike M]

Rather than rely on police and security to handle these situations we should be policing ourselves. Why didn't a bunch of people step in and help this poor Giants fan when he was getting beat down? The reality is that we can't expect police and security to be there for us. We need to take responsibility for ourselves. If ten public minded people with some guts would have stepped in these two thugs would have been apprehended immediately. But we're so overly conditioned to let someone else (i.e. police and security) handle our problems. We're afraid to step up and confront evil when it's happening right before our eyes. Blaming beer and lighting and not enough police and security is missing the real problem; as a society we lack courage to confront evil. We are a gutless society. It makes me sick.

[SF Fan]

Whomever commented about the time of the gates opening. Opening day they opened around 3:00p.m., and the game started around 5:00p.m. I got there shortly after 3 as I thought the lot could fill up (I don't drink).

After the game I walked from Lot 2 to Lot 10. There were lots of LAPD bicycle officers around after the game, except they were sitting in packs of 6 to 10 shooting the bull with each other. They were up near the stadium walkway. I looked for a cop because I was nervous in my SF gear and I wanted to make sure I was walking in the correct direction. I saw at least two groups of bicycle officers talking amongst themselves an not one officer riding inside a lot. I asked a parking attendant if I was walking in the right direction. Around Lot 4 I took off my SF hat and jersey because of the threatening 'attitude' and comments. While I felt threatened the cops were safely sitting under the stadium lights protecting each other. I suggest the media request parking lot surveillance tape to support or sho0t down my statement. There wasn't one bicycle officer pedaling around the lot. I am sure though they all got paid for that gig.

BTW-when is Frank McCourt going to offer to pay Bryan Stow's medical bills?

[Dave]

Go Dodgers...
- I have been a Dodger Fan since the 70's. I have been a fan of almost all of the LA teams since the 70's, Dodgers, Lakers, Kings and yes even the Rams until the left LA for OC. But today, I just found out what happened opening day and I must say that as a Dodger Fan, I am ashamed and embarrassed by what those 2 idiots... did to that Giant Fan in front of some of our children. As a Latino. I have had to continually, all my life fight the stereotype that all Latinos are gang members, illegals and/or uneducated.
- Having Latino Pride... Sure part of it is standing up for what you believe but it is NOT sneaking up to someone from behind and almost beating them to death. Lets all show the world what true Latino Pride is. Lets show them how we value and love our family & friends, How we are hard workers no matter the job, How successful we can be in life, love, business and how we can be friends with everyone, no matter what their race or religion or team.

[Leeland]

Now that Dodger Stadium is looking at placing limitations on alcohol consumption, maybe the friends of the 2 loser's that hurt Bryan Stow will
come forward out of anger and turn these 2 idiots into the Police.
After all, what would they be without unlimited amounts of alcohol and their cowardly gang banger mentality of 2 on 1. Not to mention the fact that it's simply impossible for these morons to act with any kind of civility publicly. I hope they're found and hung. I'm hispanic. Born, raised in Pasadena. Have been a dodger fan for all of my 45 years. These were not Dodger fans. They're lowlife cowards. Not one person in my family behaves in this manner. Not a one. If I could face you 2 right now, I'd slap you down and your mother and father too. You 2 thugs brought shame upon Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Dodgers, the hispanic/Mexican people of Los Angeles and throughout our nation.

[sad]

The sad thing about all this is that this two creeps feel no remorse for what they have done! adults acting like animals! scum of scum!

[Disapointed Doger Fan]

It is a sad situation when you can't even go to ball game and have fun, and not worry about getting beat down, it is unfortunate for this gentleman who got assaulted, and my thoughts are with him and his family. I wish this sort of thing did not happen but, we live in a very Ugly society and although there are a lot of Good people in it, there are also the Bad elements as well. The one thing that really bothers me about this incident is, why did no one step in to help this guy??? out of the hundreds of fans around, someone could have stepped in and stopped this from happening. If I were there I would have, even if it meant getting my @#$ kicked, at least it would have been two on two.We as people need to stop looking the other way when a crime is being commited and get involved, this is the only way we are going to take back our city.