After the "unprovoked attack last week at Dodger Stadium that left a San Francisco Giants fan with brain damage," L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck Thursday "announced a plan to significantly increase the number of police officers on patrol during games," according to Joel Rubin of the L.A. TIMES. Beck: "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 added that "'at the absolute minimum' he would double the 30 to 40 uniformed officers who typically are deployed at games." When asked "whether the cost of adding officers would be passed on to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt," Beck said that he "expected that the Dodgers would foot the bill." However, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa "declined to say whether he had a formal commitment from McCourt to pay what could quickly become a six-figure cost depending on the number of officers deployed and how many games the increased staffing levels last through." A Dodgers spokesperson said that the team "would pay for the increase." After coming under "heated criticism for his muted response to the attack, McCourt on Wednesday hired Kroll Associates," the security consulting firm run by former L.A. Police Chief William Bratton, "to make recommendations on improving safety at the stadium." Bratton said that the Dodgers "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" (L.A. TIMES, 4/8). Dodgers VP/PR & Broadcasting Josh Rawitch confirmed that the team "has agreed to pay for the extra LAPD security, but declined to comment on the cost or number of officers needed" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 4/8).
LONG-TERM PLANNING: Bratton appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" Friday and said his firm contact the Dodgers first about working on stadium security. He said fans will not see any immediate security changes. Bratton: "In terms of anything we're recommending, you won't see any of those changes for a while because we're in a longer-term review." Host Dan Patrick asked, "My big concern here is if Frank McCourt didn't have an issue with his security and then all of a sudden has an issue because we seem to have this reaction from fans here and that's why he's reaching out to you or allowing you to come in and head up the consulting firm with this, that's the bigger concern. I think it's a PR move." Bratton responded, "No, not at all. ... This issue is similar to what goes on in public policing that you basically try to do the best you can, but there will, unfortunately, always be incidents that occur and what you try to do is use those incidents to correct to the best of your ability what has been identified, where there may have been omissions or gaps or deficiencies in your plan" ("The Dan Patrick Show," 4/8).
PADRES BOOST SECURITY: In San Diego, Bill Center reports the Padres are "reviewing their security measures for this weekend's three games" against the Dodgers at Petco Park in light of last week's incident. Padres VP/Ballpark Operations Mark Guglielmo said in an e-mail, "We will increase our staffing levels for this series with the Dodgers in addition to paying particular attention to specific areas both inside and outside the ballpark" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/8).
GROWING PROBLEM? CBS' "Evening News" on Thursday reported on the condition of Giants fan, and CBS' Bill Whitaker noted, "As horrible as his attack was, violence at sporting events has become all too common. Fan fights at baseball games in Miami, Detroit and L.A, at football games in Oakland and DC, even at U.S. Open tennis in New York, fill page after page on YouTube." Sports psychologist Casey Cooper said fans are "mirroring the behavior we see from the athletes, we're seeing behavior from coaches and really they're just reflecting that. Aggression is getting out of control." Whitaker noted MLB "drew more than 73 million fans last year. Club owners want to keep them coming to watch teams play ball, not run away from yet another brawl in the stands" ("Evening News," CBS, 4/7).
