UPDATE: At 5 pm Wednesday, the Dodgers responded to widespread criticism and cancelled their half-price beer sale.
Dodger Stadium is plagued by security lapses that have gone unaddressed for years even as gang members, thugs and drunk, rowdy patrons learned to exploit the breaches, emboldened because they knew serious repercussions were unlikely, say two Los Angeles Police Department sources with extensive knowledge of the situation.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt failed to deal with a pre-existing situation that has significantly worsened under his watch, inside and surrounding Dodger Stadium, until the horrifying March 31 Opening Day assault by two men upon San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow in a parking lot. The 42-year-old emergency medical technician was gravely injured and remains in a medically induced coma.
Over the last five or six years under McCourt's ownership, the LAPD sources say, cheap ticket prices promoted in some sections, including outfield pavilions, helped add to the number of thugs and gang members. It wasn't long before the 18th Street Gang and others became a more prominent presence, operating with the knowledge that a typical penalty for bad behavior was merely "getting kicked out," one of the LAPD sources says.
"We got the gang elements in five or six years ago, when the McCourts had the [cheaper] admissions and lowered prices in the pavilion. It started getting crappy ... the gangsters knew not [many] arrests were being made, and that they'd just get ejected," the LAPD source says.
Now, McCourt is reacting — and the two LAPD insiders say it's too little, too late.
The April 14 home game against the St. Louis Cardinals will follow a security plan forced upon the Dodgers by public outcry and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.
McCourt abruptly abandoned his long-standing policy against letting armed police provide the bulk of the security inside the stadium. But the two LAPD sources say McCourt's failure to bring anti-gang LAPD specialty officers into the ballpark compounds the problems. It remains unclear whether Beck and McCourt will include anti-gang officers in the mix.
Meanwhile, Dodger Stadium's upper deck, especially on Opening Day, is "like walking in a prison yard ... there's a hard-core gang element," says one of the sources, of troublemakers sporting gang garb, prison tats and angry attitudes. The two LAPD sources say that even the Dodgers' "L.A." logo — in its familiar letterman's collegiate-style font — is an increasingly popular tattoo of choice among Latino gangbangers.
Fans and gang members often arrive at games drunk, the sources say, and are allowed by Dodger management to keep drinking in the stadium parking lots.
Once inside the stadium, alcohol-fueled patrons are peddled even more booze under McCourt's aggressive alcohol-marketing program. For example, concessionaires sell two 24-ounce beers at a time per customer, and hard liquor is sold.
An "all you can eat" menu, promoted at a stand accessible from the right field pavilion, is another marketing scheme abused by violent fans. Some use the piles of cheap food as projectiles against fans from rival teams, so security teams now pay special attention to that area.
Patrons who get kicked out for bad behavior find it easy to "sneak back in" at poorly monitored gates, the LAPD sources say, which encourages more trouble. "The parking lots and alcohol" are two festering problems underlying it all, as well as McCourt's use of a hodgepodge of suburban and other law enforcement agencies alongside LAPD, which can create coordination issues during emergencies.
Although McCourt has made a major flip-flop, agreeing to pay the cost of beefing up the number of uniformed LAPD officers inside the stadium, in recent days he also has defended the stadium's security measures and called the attack on Stow a "random act of violence."
As of press time, McCourt's management team had failed to cancel a widely ridiculed new plan to encourage more heavy drinking — a two-for-one beer sale at some games. Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich is demanding that the beer promo be canceled to "restore the public trust."
Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch tells the Weekly the half-price beer deal "remains under consideration" pending an evaluation by former LAPD Chief William Bratton, whom McCourt hired last week to improve safety at the stadium.
Currently, the LAPD sources say, the security force is composed mainly of Dodgers private personnel in blue shirts; off-duty, unarmed law enforcement officers in white polo shirts; and armed LAPD officers in uniform.
Before each game, off-duty officers in golf carts patrol the parking lots, while officers in uniform go to the turnstiles to help conduct screening, the sources say.
At nearby Elysian Park, a city park with lax security just down the road from the LAPD Academy, "Everyone gets plastered. ... It's a free-for-all," says one LAPD source. In the nearby Dodger Stadium parking lots, "There's no control. People park wherever they want to and [the officers] are running all around: 'Are you drinking, are you not drinking?' "
The Dodgers' security program has faced turmoil since the departure of security chief Shahram L. Ariane, who now is offering his help as a consultant. Last December, the Dodgers fired his replacement, Ray Maytorena, a former Secret Service agent.
Let's face it, the area of Dodger Stadium; my choice for the most beautiful ball park in the NL. Has its own problems in the neighborhood.Whatever they do the last great thing about the Dodgers; Vince Scully, had better be protected and kept to no harm.
I've heard stories of how cholos have ruined experiences for many civilized fans at these games. Condemning all Mexicans & Latinos for the actions of stupid cholos isn't going to help. If anything, they hate cholos just as much as all the critics. Civilized Mexicans & Latinos want security & peace of mind like all other MLB fans. The Padres have many Latino fans and you never hear of any problems at Petco. If only, the Dodgers would've gotten the land they wanted in Brooklyn.
Michael, your below listed response is completely moronic. You make ridiculous statements about the citys trust of the LAPD. It seems to me that the individuals that do not trust the police are usually the ones involved in criminal activity. You stated that the dodgers should hire a private contractor such as Blackwater. You must of forgot that Blackwater is facing major law suits and criminal allegations for war crimes. It's ironic that you would request a military style presence to rid the stadium of gangsters. Face reality, you live in the most liberal city in the world. The city of LA seems to promote and protect gangsters. I've watched several stories on the news where the LAPD uses force against a violent offender and the community constantley questions the police response and not the suspect actions that caused that response. Get your mind right, there is no police-gangster agreement, todays weak society has limited an aggressive approach. You should read more and get your facts right. Sense the LAPD has been providing security at the stadium, there has not been any negative incidents. I do agree that the heavy police presence is a knee jerk reaction, but I would say better late than never. You said that we now have to pay the police double. It's not the tax payer money, it's the dodgers funding that expense. I would rather the dodgers pay for premium security than continue to offer half price alcohol. Michael, ignorance is not an excues...
Drive both the McCourts out of town. We made Al Davis move and we will drive you out of los angeles McCourts. McCourts also dont understand that the people of los angeles dont trust the lapd. Hire an outside contractor (former blackwater maybe) Stop hiring so much lapd because they dont mess with the gangs in los angeles. lapd and the gangs have a certain agreement , that if they some what behave (dont kill people, and stay out of certain neighborhoods) they will leave them alone to conduct their buesiness. Only when the gangs cross those lines and give the lapd bad press, do they try to take them down. How do you protcect the dodgers from this when the cops dont do anything to stop the gangs around the city. We have anti gang units that have all the information on these gangs to take them down but its hard to get funding for police when gangs are not as big of a problem. And now the Dodgers are hiring these lapd people as consultants who tell them, of course, that they need more lapd officers to be safe and we need to pay them at their doubble time rate. How about clean up the neighborhood surrounding the dodgers and that would solve alot of problems. the mayor tony is scared to live in the city too and wants to build a 6' security wall in front of the historic getty mayors mansion. You think something is wrong.
This article is ridiculous. Raising prices is the answer? "Keep the poor out and there will be no problems" should be the title for this piece. The authors words are fueling racist remarks from ignorant dumb asses such as CB, Jack Mehoff, wopp22 (yeah I'm calling you fools out) and many others. If you don't like living in such a beautifully diverse city then please move to Arizona. This city would be better free of bigots.Have you ever been to a Yankees Red Sox game? Lot's of drunken fights there. College sports? Tons of fights. Angels games? Deaths! What kind of people go to these specific events? Think about it. Denounce violence and stop blaming it on a certain race. It's the bored human beings with that work way too much, need an escape from their daily routine and can only find passion in sports.
I hope they find the animals that beat the poor dude. I blame sports for the violence.
CB, are you trying to defend these thugs? Notice that the first sign of an attack was a blow to the back of the head. Yeah, they are cowards and thugs, that love to attack in mass. Hence, the name gangs. Problem is, everyone supports the rights of these idiots, not the police, who have to clean up society's failures, (namely, these misunderstood "citizens").
No, I am not a cop. Just a concerned citizen that is tired of seeing these jackels get a suspended sentence for ruining someone's life with a vicious and cowardly attack.
Do you still want to defend these morons?
Anybody that resorts to violence is an animal to me. Don't see anything racist, bigoted, foolish, nor ignorant about that statement. Cheers mate!
Excuse me, but let's be clear: animals don't kick each others' heads in for the fun of it. Calling those very human -- yet totally unevolved -- pieces of sh*t "animals" is an insult to animals.
What they actually are is worthless Latino -- yes, Latino, that's right, let's not kid ourselves -- gangbanger thugs who came here to raise hell. And we let them get away with it because we're too PC to call it what it is, so we sit and watch helplessly while our city goes to hell.
Unsaid in this article but an inarguable fact nonetheless: 99.9% of the worthless thugs who perpetrate this violence are Latino, and probably just as high a percentage are here illegally.
Great job there, America!
The jackyls ruined it for the Raiders and now have ruined it for the Dogers. Thank you illegal alien offspring.
Well you all wanted a to make LA a Sanctuary City,this is what you get when you welcome all that human garbage in here,now live with it
The L.A. Weekly is an irresponsible newspaper. You think people are blind to you mentioning one word, that indicates a race of people, then you probably act surprised, when the comment section is full of racists, and the target race going back and forth is a sandbox. I got news for you. Anybody who was against prohibition is a thug. Pro choice people are the ultimate thugs. You are a thug if you spearheaded and support medical marijuana. Anybody who ever supported selling alchohol at venues is a thug. All of you are responsible for all car crashes featuring drunk drivers. You are responsible thugs, for the death of the Angels' pitcher. I can go on. So, if we're going to classify anybody who is responsible for violence...take a look in the mirror. I'm sure it will all be sorted out on Judgment Day. So, join Da club. By the way, Whoever decided to ignore writing a tribute article on Elizabeth Taylor, after her death, is a thug, and classless.
been attending games at dodger stadium since the late 80s
im a giants fan
things started going downhill during the fox ownership...but the riff raff was segregated into left field....because they enjoyed cursing out bonds
but its gotten much worse since the mccourts took over....and i havent been back since 2008....
It's not an expression of power it's an expression of COWARD. Let's see latinos come forward and quit running and hiding, show your faces like men and take your punishments like men instead of COWARDS.Not only that it's an expresson of ILLITERACY. It's lausd fault they have teachers that don't teach.
Welcome to El Norte, Amigo. You can transport a person from point A to point B, but you can't make them raise their children not to be morally corrupt. And it's generational. Imagine what a Dodger's game will be like in 5 or 10 more years!
Whole thing is a pr stunt by the lapd so they can have their overtime pay. Every politician that has come out to attack dodger security is a huge supporter of the lapd union. They figure they can keep their officers happy with their pay this way with out the city having to pay them. People get beat up at every sporting event across the country. Suddenly it becomes a big deal when the city is out of money and needs a way to pay for their police officers.
really? name the last time someone was beaten up or even threatened at a lakers game
your an idiot....most like a dodgers fan...who thinks the game is something to watch between bouncing around beach balls and doing the wave
Frank McCourt and his family needs to watch every home game in the pavilion section this season as his confidence in the security of his own stadium. Of course we know he is too chicken and terrified to come out of the owner's box and from tons of personal security because he is fully aware his own stadium is basically a cholo prison - especially in the pavilion/prison section. How about it McChicken? Why don't you rub elbows with your Dodgers fans in the stadium - especially in the Pavilion section.
It's not the alcohol. These low-lifes will just get drunk before the game. It is the caliber of people. When 40 year old men are cursing at 10 year old girls because of the shirt they are wearing there is a big problem. There is no respect for children or families in the stadium. There is no respect for baseball. It is a mob mentality that even the white teenagers/adults pick up. Throwing trash and beer at people is apparently OK with the adults.
This isn't new. I used to work with cops (not LAPD) part-time in college. These folks carried badges and guns. They worked in downtown LA and liked to go straight to the stadium after games (still with their guns and badges on their belts, under sportcoats). One or two would meet their wives/girlfriends/kids there. By late 80s, though, they canceled the wives/girlfriends/kids except for when they wanted to pay for high dollar seats because of all the assholes who didn't care that these folks were cops--or armed. The assholes wanted to fight and push and throw shit, anyway. The old-timers who'd grown up watching the Dodgers all talked about how there was none of that crap before the Raiders hit town. Isn't Dodger Stadium right in the middle of 18th Street Gang turf? Spiderman and Sleepy and Stumpy like to screw with white people so they have something to laugh about with the rest of the Surenos after they go back to the the yard at Corcoran or Chino.
It's not in the middle of 18th Street turf. The local gang is ExP and they're nowhere near as bad as most of the other gangs
The Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote a song about the thugs at Dodger stadium years ago.
I love when beaners are so offended by being called out for what they are, filthy dogs who shit where they eat. And of course, they eat what has been handed to them because they are stupid, illiterate and depend on welfare.82% of illegal imigrants accept some form of welfare from the county and the state because they are ghetto trash and it's what they have become accustomed to. They fart out little brown terds who also need welfare to survive.Hey let's all go to the game and drink and curse and look for pussy and taunt and threaten whitey, and then cry when they are called animals.Dodger Stadium is not the exception, nor the rule. Look at the mexicans stealing and cheating and begging for services, because they have an attitude of entitlement.You are treated like shit by whites, because you are shit, and we don't want you at our events, and ruining our fun time, that we pay for, with money we earned by WORKING.Go back where you came from; the mexican slums and sewers, and stop turning Los Angeles into a mexican sewer, too.
i know plenty of Mexicans who are engineers, chemists, lawyers, and/or otherwise professional people....you come across as having less class than them...its hard to take someone seriously when they call a race of people gutter, and sound like the gutter themselves
Let's be honest. The problems described in this article are not limited to Dodger Stadium. They're becoming more common in Los Angeles, period. Why? We actively import the impoverished and marginally educated w/ our sanctuary city policies,and then the new arrivees have a bunch of kids whom, statistics reveal, have a difficult time even finishing high school. L.A. has gotten increasingly ghetto and gangsta' over the past couple decades, and no one who has lived here for awhile should be surprised
This never happend in the past. Its because of mexicans. I and my family will never go to another dodger game. The mexican people are just what they are. The world seen what they did after the Lakers game as well. This awful problem will never go away . Sports in America will never be the same ever. Sad. The Dodgers, Lakers and Raiders all make millions selling Tshirts and hats to gang bangers. Do you really think they care about the fans.
I'm glad you will never go to another game... the last thing we need are more racist pricks to deal with!
I'm a two tone half breen, white and mexican, and i'll say it for what it is. East Los Homeys from over the bridge come to the games with cheap tickets and look to get their thug on. Its the same element that made a Raiders game scary as sh*t. The Dodger Stadium parking lot is many square miles with nooks and crannies tucked into corners. All kinds of shenanigans go on at games; before, during and after. There are no video cameras on the grounds which with today's security standards is unconcionable. This is not the first time this has happened, back to the O'Malley days. This was just unfortunately on an opening day.
On the other hand, if you ask a police officer should there be more police, they will always say "Yes, more security is needed." Especially the LAPD. It's like asking the Pentagon, "Are there more security threats out there?"
Crime has fallen to 1960s levels in Los Angeles, and the LAPD still likes the folklore of an overworked urban department, thinly stacked up against crime waves. Boy, they are milking this story.
Dodger Stadium? Maybe management should spring for lots of ushers in the parking lot after games.
The problem is the ushers. They cant enforce safety rules because they themselves are scared of getting their asses kicked, stabbed, or shot. Don't get it twisted, the problems at dodger stadium are all gang related. THE ONLY and i repeat THE ONLY type of security that will scare GANGBANGERS are people that can put them in jail at the drop of a hat, and an usher most certainly cannot do that. No story is being milked, I am a 5'1" 110 pound FEMALE and ive been assaulted at dodger stadium once and harassed every time i go. You SIR/MAM have no idea what you are talking about. Had ANYONE at all payed attention TO ALL OF the patrons of dodger stadium voicing THESE CONCERNS 2 YEARS AGO, THAT MAN WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BEATEN IN THE PARKING LOT. it's about DAMN time SOMEONE is paying attention.
It's time to send in all the retired deputies from the defunct Firestone Station. They "Stonie Boys" will take care of business!
They should all go do that shit at Raiders games where they don't give a fuck about what happens.This is the Dodgers not the fucking Raiders, people actually give a shit and love this organization and don't want it to be abused by lowlifes.
You are a racist. Not all Mexicans shave their heads and belong to a gang of Cholos. Thats like saying all White people are skinheads and hang black people. Try reading and writing constructive criticizm.
your defense is bull shit!! if mexicans were not followers in America, shit like this wouldnt go down!! maybee mexicans in america can get a lesson in manners and independant thinking from the real Mexicans in Mexico who have no plans on jumping and sneaking here.. No wonder the Real Mexicans in Mexico dont mind all you scum wannabe american chicano trash run north..
but they are mexicans... yes, mexicans in gangs, but we are on the internet, and people dont always see that gangs and violence are an actual problem, so take yourself and pretend you were a white chick going to a game and all you see if a bunch of mexicans causing chaos? One might jump to the conclusions that its mexicans, not that its mexicans in gangs, not saying its right, but just as you say "try reading and writing constructive criticism" that sentence wasnt very constructive, i think you could have left it as not all mexicans belong to a gang of cholos and the problem at dodger stadium is gang related, not mexican related. You had a chance to educate, but you jumped to a racist conclusion just as fast as the above poster did. EDUCATE, dont playerate.
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