Crime Strikes Sour Note at Karaoke Clubs : Violence: Police say gang-related problems have occurred at several San Gabriel Valley nightspots. At least seven cities have passed ordinances and permit moratoriums.

The back room of Arcadia’s Rhythm Karaoke Lounge was packed when--for the second time in four months--a gang quarrel ended in gunfire, putting the club’s security guard in the hospital with a shattered foot.

Now, under pressure from local officials, the landlords have agreed to clear out the sing-along equipment.

This and similar violence has fed debate over karaoke--amateur singing to recorded music--which is immensely popular in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan and is now sweeping the San Gabriel Valley.

As karaoke clubs have multiplied during the past 18 months, shootings, assaults and suspected prostitution at some nightspots have triggered moratoriums and regulatory ordinances in at least seven cities.

Club owners and karaoke lovers are angered by the criminal stigma increasingly attached to the entertainment. They say the concerns are the result of cultural misunderstanding.

Many fans have honed their singing techniques, frequent clubs with private karaoke rooms on family outings, and practice singing to music videos with their own or friends’ high-tech equipment.

Law enforcement officials are quick to say that karaoke--which became popular in Japan more than a decade ago--is not to blame for the trouble. But, they add, certain karaoke nightspots have become popular with Asian organized crime syndicates and their street gangs, which the Sheriff’s Department estimates at 170 in Southern California.

Officials in other areas, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, say they know of no problems at karaoke clubs in their areas.

The debate has focused on a new breed of karaoke clubs--called KTV, or karaoke television--popular in the San Gabriel Valley. The dozen clubs offer private rooms to patrons who prefer to sing only in the company of friends and family, and who are put off by the long waits and smirks of strangers at karaoke lounges.

But, police say, most of the crimes linked to karaoke facilities have occurred at KTV clubs; the VIP rooms, police add, are conducive to drug dealing and prostitution.

Monterey Park has taken the hardest line, banning KTV clubs. San Gabriel’s Planning Commission developed 21 regulations for new KTV businesses, and Rosemead recently adopted a similar set of rules.

El Monte, Arcadia and Alhambra have placed temporary moratoriums on new karaoke clubs and equipment; in Temple City, a recent ordinance requires conditional use permits for new karaoke facilities.

KTV clubs in most of the cities are prohibited from selling alcohol.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Thomas Budds, who heads the Asian Organized Crime Unit of the Special Investigations Bureau, said KTV clubs serve as a hangout for Asian gangs and violence occurs when gang members have scores to settle.

Although problems have not occurred at every San Gabriel Valley karaoke club, officials of the cities say they are responding to several incidents of gang-related violence.

In Alhambra, two people have been shot at the U2 KTV & Cafe since August. In the first incident, a 25-year-old San Gabriel man police identified as a high-ranking member of an Asian gang was killed; police have issued a warrant for the arrest of William Ling, 24, whom they believe to be an associate of a New York-based crime syndicate.

Drive-by shootings have occurred at two of San Gabriel’s three KTV clubs. In addition to the October and January shootings at the Rhythm Lounge, a drive-by shooting was reported at a third Arcadia KTV club.

In Monterey Park, police last summer raided a KTV business operating illegally out of a motel. The bottom floor had been transformed into private KTV rooms, where patrons could order hard liquor and hostesses, at least some of whom were prostitutes, police said.

Several cities require KTV rooms to have non-locking doors and unobstructed windows, so that all activity is visible from the hallway. Rosemead requires customers to show identification and sign in. San Gabriel mandates that security cameras be installed in all new clubs.

With regulations such as these, many city officials say, illegal activity can be controlled.

“In general, a few bad incidents and a few bad people have tainted karaoke for the general public,” said San Gabriel Police Chief David Lawton. “But I think the general consensus here is a number of good people avail themselves of KTV, and if we can find a way to regulate it, we should allow it to continue.”

But officials in Monterey Park have had a different reaction. City Councilman Sam Kiang spearheaded the effort to prohibit KTV clubs.

“People said to me: ‘Why don’t we (require) glass windows and restricted hours?’ ” Kiang said. “But it really would not help. . . . I don’t see any reason why we need this closed room. It just invites crime. We have open rooms for them to sing.”

In Arcadia, some members of the Chinese community are also pushing for a ban on KTV.

“I think karaoke is fine, provided they make it wide open, eliminate the private rooms and eliminate booze,” said John Wuo, a board member of the Arcadia Chinese Assn. “I think they get too many gangs involved. The (KTV) room, that’s a perfect meeting place for them. Nobody knows what’s going on. We don’t need to make a conference room for them.”

Fearful of offending city officials and losing their licenses come renewal time, club owners were reluctant to criticize the regulations. But they complained that their reputations are being maligned.

“Most of the people have a wrong idea. They think KTV is to have prostitution, gangsters, drugs and porno movies,” said Bobby Wang, who opened 21KTV in San Gabriel eight months ago. Wang said 99% of his customers are family people, and he said he complied with a host of city regulations--including installing windows and non-locking doors on the private karaoke rooms, hanging a security camera in the hallway and hiring security guards--to open his alcohol-free club.

In Alhambra, Patrick Kwan enlisted the Chamber of Commerce’s help to dispel council fears and obtain his club’s permits.

In Kwan’s K100 KTV club, customers can choose from nine rooms complete with Greek and Japanese themes and laser disc equipment capable of adjusting musical keys to accommodate even the worst performers.

Video selections--ranging from Mandarin and Cantonese favorites to traditional Taiwanese songs, Japanese hits and American pop--number in the thousands.

Kwan said high school students often stay for hours, practicing and goading one another. Some Chinese-American youth who do not read Chinese come to hear the sounds and memorize the songs, said manager Ken Wan, 21.

Many who use the rooms to sing with friends and family say they would not sing in a lounge full of strangers.

The KTV rooms are “very comfortable. Old friends come in together to have a good time, to relax and forget all the pressures,” said William Lo, 43, a real estate agent from Arcadia who recently visited Kwan’s club.

Lo and his friends said they are insulted by the implications that private karaoke rooms breed crime.

“It’s like banks. People rob the bank all the time, but there is nothing wrong with the bank,” said a friend of Lo’s.