Wary San Diego Hopes This Raid Is Peaceful

The local sports talk is all about various competitive matchups for today’s San Diego Chargers-Oakland Raiders game: Charger quarterback vs. Raider secondary, Raider running backs vs. Charger linebackers.

But the most volatile collision could prove to be this: Raider Fans vs. San Diego Police. A rematch.

Last year’s Charger-Raider game here erupted into the worst case of sports-fan violence in city history, with 150 arrests and dozens of injuries. Police and private security officers were overwhelmed by the number and ferocity of fights in the stands.

For today’s sold-out game at the 71,000-seat Qualcomm Stadium, to be televised on ESPN, Police Chief David Bejarano has tripled the number of officers to 150, the most ever assigned to a San Diego sporting event.

Bejarano’s philosophy is simple: zero tolerance. Last year’s brawl caused a political furor in San Diego, with the mayor and City Council vowing never to allow a repeat.

Among those assaulted were a retired San Diego doctor, his wife and several members of their family who were pummeled by a pack of young Raider fans enraged by the Chargers’ last-minute victory, 23 to 20.

“I guess this is the one time you can be a punk and get away with it: Come to a Raiders game,” said Paul Thomas, a retired anesthesiologist who received a formal apology from the City Council.

Charger-Raider games have always been spirited contests, both on the field and in the stands. And there have been periodic outbreaks of fan rowdiness.

Raider fans have a reputation for exuberance, confrontation and highly imaginative costuming, with team colors of silver and black.

Robert Corb, a sports psychologist at UC Riverside, thinks there is something about Charger fans that particularly annoys Raider fans, especially those who are highest on alcohol intake and lowest on impulse control.

“My image of Charger fans is that they are basically a nice, orderly, family-oriented group,” Corb said. “That makes it easier for Raider fans to feel special by acting like the big, bad Raider fans everyone is supposedly afraid of.”

Officials say that rowdiness at Charger-Raider games has escalated since the Raiders fled from Los Angeles after the 1994 season. The logic is that for many Raider fans in Los Angeles the annual game in San Diego is the only opportunity to flaunt their devotion.

That idea has taken on currency in San Diego, where it is a widely held belief that the bane of San Diego’s civic existence is its proximity to Los Angeles.

Charger management has increased the number of private security officers on duty to 800. The team is also picking up the $40,000 overtime tab for the police officers.

Officers will keep an eye on tailgate parties, lest they turn into drinkfests. Drunks or anyone displaying “challenging behavior” will be turned away.

Buses will be ready to take anyone arrested directly to jail. No more cite-and-release.

Like a coach unwilling to say anything that an opponent might take as a boast or dare, Bejarano and other police officials were low-key at a pregame news conference when asked if police can handle the Raider fans.

“My confidence level is high,” Lt. Bill Brown said quietly. Brown is preparing a pregame pep talk for his officers.

Elements of the sports media have been less measured in their comments about caravans of Raider fans descending on San Diego.

“Hey, the freak show is coming to town,” Charger broadcaster Ted Leitner told his television audience last week. “Circus time, morons, bring them on down.”

Although the point is considered debatable in some San Diego circles, Raider fans are human and comments like Leitner’s carry a sting.

“Every group has its idiots, but most Raider fans just want to make noise and have fun,” said Bob Potts, president of the Original Los Angeles Raiders Boosters.

“It’s not just Raider fans who are unruly; it’s Charger fans, too,” said Debra Zeldin of San Pedro, a member of the Greater Los Angeles Raiders Boosters. “Whoever is the drunkest will cause the most trouble.”

Corb and other researchers have found that violence-prone fans are much more likely to explode if their team loses.

This year the Raiders are 6-1 and leading the division. The Chargers are 0-7. Thus the combustive element for fan violence seems diminished.

Call it a silver (and black) lining in an otherwise dismal Charger season.