Melee Prompts Calls for Tighter Security at Palladium

Neighborhood activists Sunday demanded better security at the Hollywood Palladium in the wake of a melee Saturday night that was quelled after police called a tactical alert.

Violence erupted outside the Palladium, in the 6200 block of Sunset Boulevard, about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, before a salsa concert began. Some members of a crowd of 5,000 began smashing glass entrance doors after being told that their tickets for a Sunday salsa concert would not be honored on Saturday, the nightclub’s manager said.

Three people, including a club security guard and a firefighter, suffered minor injuries after the crowd smashed doors and rushed inside the ballroom.

Police clad in riot gear--some of them summoned from throughout the city--managed to control the crowd an hour later.

During the last two years, police have declared three tactical alerts at the Palladium. The previous one occurred last Christmas, when two youths were wounded by gunfire and another was stabbed as they waited outside the Palladium to attend a holiday party.

In response to the Christmas incident, which drew an outcry from merchants and residents of the Ivar Hill Community Assn., the Los Angeles City Council last February imposed a curfew on the ballroom.

But the curfew is ineffective because all the incidents requiring police assistance occurred before the curfew took effect, association President Joe Shea said during a news conference Sunday.

“A curfew doesn’t address the problem of crowd control. The essential problem is the management’s lack of concern when it comes to taking measures to control patrons before these things happen,” Shea said. He blamed Palladium management for encouraging a radio station to keep promoting the weekend concerts after all 4,200 seats were sold.

“I believe there is a need for these types of events, but the Palladium needs to look again at how to manage large venues,” Shea said.

Allan Shuman, a co-partner of Palladium Investors Ltd., owners of the ballroom, said the radio station did not keep promoting the sold-out event and had told people that the concert was sold out and advised them not to go.