Dodger Stadium Security Changes Announced
First Posted: 04/08/11 05:00 PM ET Updated: 06/08/11 06:12 AM ET
By Alice Walton
Drunk and rowdy fans who disrupt baseball games at Dodger Stadium will be arrested and could have their season tickets revoked thanks to increased security measures that will go into effect next week, in the wake of a brutal beating that left a rival fan in a medically induced coma.
Off duty police officers who already patrol Dodger games will now appear in uniform and have the power to arrest fans under a new "zero tolerance" policy, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced this morning.
Other security measures include:
A data -based, security system similar to the LAPD's CompStat
Prohibition of tailgating in the stadium parking lots and surrounding areas
Post-game debriefings between the Dodger organization and Los Angeles Police Department
Installation of cameras at stadium entrances
"When you go into Dodger Stadium, you're going to meet a Los Angeles police officer. When you leave Dodger Stadium, you're going to bid farewell to a Los Angeles police officer," Beck said.
The increased police presence is a response to the beating of 42-year-old Bryan Stow, who was attacked by two Dodger fans in the stadium parking lot following the Opening Day game against the San Francisco Giants. The father of two remains in a medically induced coma.
A $100,000 reward is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the two assailants, who are described by police as two Hispanic men with thin mustaches, between the ages of 18 and 25. One has tattoos on his neck and the other has a goatee. They fled the scene in a light-colored four-door car drive by a woman, with a young boy inside, according to police.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged the two men to turn themselves in.
Though there have been other bouts of violence at Dodger Stadium over the years, the mayor said that this beating was particularly startling.
"I think that the fact that it was unprovoked," Villaraigosa said. "It was senseless, that it was so brutal, that they hit him from behind, kicked him on the ground. It just hit the heartstrings of everybody."
Team owner Frank McCourt joined Villaraigosa and Beck at the morning news conference. When asked why it took a near-fatal beating for the Dodgers to respond to fans' concerns, McCourt said management had tried to tackle the problem and was focused on moving forward.
"The efforts are made day in and day out, and sometimes maybe it takes an event like this to bring things to this particular point," McCourt said. "We're going to do something about it. That's the point here."
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