At Venice Beach, Crowds of No-Shows : Tourism: Police patrols were beefed up and there was no recurrence of gang battles. But last weekend’s violence left many concerned about safety.

For Harry Perry, the turbaned, Rollerblading electric guitar player of Venice Beach, it was just another spectacularly beautiful day on the job. Only this Saturday, there were far fewer people to serenade--and far more police.

“I mean, look around,” said Perry, squeezing another blues riff from his Stratocaster as he skated around the Muscle Beach weightlifting platform. “It looks like another Saturday at Venice Beach to me. Except . . . it’s not.”

Saturday was the first weekend day for tourists and 9-to-5ers to return to Venice Beach since a battle between gang members prompted police to close the popular beach and boardwalk last Sunday. The day came and went without incident.

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As always, the bodybuilders and thong-bikini-wearers preened and played to the onlookers, while tourists snapped photos of them and just about everything else. The regular assortment of Boardwalk hucksters and showboaters performed at their usual places, and scattered clusters of sun-worshipers staked their usual spots on the sands.

But most everyone else--the thousands who descend on the boardwalk each weekend for some sightseeing and strolling--apparently found other things to do.

“It’s pretty slow. They’re all kind of scared,” said Ed Zaldana, whose parking lot just off the beach was dotted with empty spaces. “The people that are here are asking if it is safe, if there are enough cops around.”

Los Angeles Police Officer Dawn DeVine was one of 12 patrol officers specially deployed Saturday to augment the normal crew of 12 who work the beach detail. She, too, found it easy to make her way down the boardwalk.

“I think people are frightened,” DeVine said. “That’s the bottom line. That’s why more of us are here, to make sure everyone has a good time.”

DeVine and several other police officers and merchants said they hoped the weekend would end as peacefully as it began and that today would not be a repeat of last Sunday.

In recent years, gang activity has increased along the beachfront strip of stores and vendors, culminating in last weekend’s melee. After a fight among rival gang members broke out, police in riot gear and on horseback swept through the area, clearing out dozens of combatants before closing the beach.

Today, twice the usual contingent of 50 officers will be deployed to short-circuit any problems and to reassure the crowds.

On Saturday, Arnold Newman, 52, needed no such reassurance. He knew there had been trouble the week before but came anyway to share in the ebullient spirit of the beach.

Last weekend’s events were “a litmus test of what’s happening in L.A. generally,” said Newman, an environmental activist from Sherman Oaks. “Things are accelerating out of hand.”

With that, he matter-of-factly tugged on the leash leading to his bull terrier, Guido Von Porker, and the pair went off down the strand.

Gloria Shin, 24, of Gardena was not fazed by the reports of gang activity either. But she and six friends came prepared for their boardwalk stroll.

“We’re not scared,” she said, smiling. “But then again, we have a Taser.”