Inglewood and Hoteliers Discuss Party Safety : Crowd control: Authorities advised managers to nip trouble before it escalates by calling in police.

In an attempt to prevent mass gatherings in Inglewood from growing out of control, city officials this week convened a group of hotel and club managers, including the administrators from an Inglewood hotel where two party-goers died this summer.

It was the two recent deaths at the Days Inn Park Plaza Hotel, which occurred within a week, that prompted Mayor Edward Vincent to convene the managers Monday and tell them: “We want to eliminate people getting hurt and people getting killed.”

A week after a man attending a Sweet 16 birthday party was shot in the Days Inn parking lot Aug. 25, another birthday party with more than 300 guests erupted in fistfights, gunfire and a fatal traffic accident.

Police and fire officials recommended that managers screen those who book the parties and vigorously adhere to occupancy limits in order to reduce the likelihood of violence.

“There’s no way to guarantee that nothing bad will happen,” said Deputy Chief James Butts. But he told the managers that they could reduce the escalation of trouble by calling police immediately if fighting starts, if a guest has a firearm or if party-goers refuse to leave when ordered.

Butts also said managers should have a secure place from which to phone the police. When fighting broke out at the Days Inn party, an employee reported that guests seeking safety overran the hotel’s front office.

The managers said their main dilemma is predicting the dynamics of a party ahead of time, especially when young people sometimes send an adult to book the gathering.

Kay Hong, manager of the Days Inn Park Plaza, suggested that the police could run background checks on organizers as a precaution, but Butts said police databases are not available for such uses.

Mark Sinaguglia, who runs the Mayflower Ballroom in Inglewood, said one of his techniques for avoiding trouble is carefully screening party organizers. He said he requires a driver’s license and asks the organizers questions about their employment and any past parties they have had.

Even if an organizer passes those tests, the party may still not be a sure thing. He said he sometimes turns party organizers down for nothing other than “a gut feeling.”