Los Angeles Police Chief Beck vows to make Dodger Stadium safe

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has vowed to make Dodger Stadium safe. This follows the severe beating of a Giants fan in the parking lot on opening day last week.

He wouldn’t say how many officers he would assign, but Police Chief Charlie Beck said baseball fans would see a sea of blue LAPD uniforms at Dodger Stadium when the team returns and begins a series of home games next week.

“This is going to be a game changer," said Beck. "People will be awed by the response by the LAPD to this. Because we will not suffer this as a city again."

Beck said the cash-strapped city would ask the Dodgers to pay for the officers assigned to the stadium.

The beating in a Dodgers parking lot that left San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stow in a coma has struck a nerve with more than baseball fans in Los Angeles.

“Dodgers Stadium is part of our identity," said City Councilman Ed Reyes. "What happened that day is an aberration. We need to do everything in our power to restore that confidence.”

Reyes, who represents Elysian Park where Dodger Stadium sits, had a message for Stow’s attackers. “The cowards that did this, I know you are listening. I know you are out there. You need to know we will find you. We will track you down. You’re better off turning yourself in.”

A police source said detectives are hoping composite sketches of the two suspects posted on the LAPD website and a $100,000 reward will prompt someone to turn the attackers in.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he and police leaders have been in close contact with Dodgers officials since the beating, and were consulted about their decision to hire former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton as a security consultant at the Stadium. “When they actually asked us what we thought about that and we said great,” said Villaraigosa.

Bratton is now with the New York-based international security consulting firm Kroll Associates. Asked whether he thought the Dodgers have been providing enough security at Dodger Stadium, the mayor demurred. “I don’t want to spend time pointing fingers.”

The Dodgers refused to comment for this story.

It appears the team has changed its security practices in recent years. LAPD Spokesman Andy Neiman said there was a time when the Dodgers hired off-duty officers.

“In recent years," said Neiman, "we have basically had off-duty officers who were authorized to work in uniform for the Dodgers games and so they were visibly uniformed in the stadium.”

He said that practice ended.

Police Chief Beck wouldn’t say how many officers he’d assign to Dodger Stadium, or for how many games. A small number already are assigned to the stadium area during games.

But the chief said some of the responsibility for security rests with people who attend games. “All of us set the standards. And if you allow fans to misbehave incrementally around you when you attend one of these games then you are part of the problem.”

For now, Chief Beck said he’s handling the problem with a large police presence – one that city officials hope will restore baseball fan confidence in one of the region’s most visible institutions.