LAPD Launches Security Review

The LAPD has launched a security review of the city's nightclub scene in the wake of the car-bomb incidents in London, with Chief William J. Bratton saying the department's anti-terrorism unit needs more resources.^[1] The LAPD began a full-scale "terror assessment" of scores of popular nightclubs around the city after terrorists parked cars filled with explosives outside a trendy bar in London.^[2]

The review includes looking at how terrorists could target clubs and other night venues as well as developing better ways to protect patrons.^[3] "The threat has significantly expanded....Hollywood, with the highest number of nightclubs in the U.S., is a target," said Bratton.^[4]

Among officials' concerns is that scores of people often line up outside the hottest clubs, making them potential targets for a car bomb similar to the one found in London's Haymarket area.^[5] "We are identifying high-profile and high-volume nightclubs. We are assessing them, contacting their private security and make them more aware of what to look for that is anything unusual," said Deputy Chief Michael Downing, head of the LAPD's counterterrorism bureau.^[6]

Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and surrounding areas have seen a boom in nightclubs and bars over the last decade as the once-struggling area has revived.^[7]

Tom Colley, a former doorman who is opening a bar off Hollywood Boulevard, was also skeptical that the neighborhood would be targeted.^[8] "We don't have large venues compared to other cities....We have venues for 600 people. It's not like Spain, where you have clubs for 16,000. The whole scene here is spread out. You'd find more people downtown in the middle of the day." Colley said.^[9]

Nightclubs have not appeared on any government lists of top possible terrorist targets. A 2003 list of leading targets produced by the state attorney general's office included Los Angeles International Airport, Disneyland, the Golden Gate Bridge and the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland.^[10]

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^[1] Richard Winton and David Pierson, LAPD reviews terror threat at nightclubs, Los Angeles Times, July 4, 2007, available at http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-terrorism4jul04,1,1989533.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california (last visited July 5, 2007).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.