Dodgers Start Eight-Game Homestand With Extra Security Measures

A security clampdown is coming Thursday at Dodger Stadium when the team begins a home stand against St. Louis.

That's as the LAPD released a fuller description of the three suspects involved in the Opening Day attacks on Bryan Stow and his friends. (See accompanying gallery.)

Off-duty police officers who normally circulate undercover in the stadium will wear uniforms.

LAPD officers will be at the entrance and exits to the stadium and in parking lots.

They'll also be watching for people drinking outside the stadium in Elysian Park.

"You will also see an increased presence of Los Angeles police officers in and
around the Elysian Park area making sure the fans—alleged fans—do not
drink in the surrounding park areas before coming to the games," said LAPD chief Charlie Beck Thursday afternoon.

Longer-term, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Dodgers also plan to create a crime tracking system like the one the LAPD uses for the stadium.

Better lighting in the parking lots is also planned. And season ticket holders who get really rowdy may find their passes revoked.

Between 30,000 and 40,000 people are expected, as the Dodgers begin the first game of an eight-game homestand.

Volunteers from Stow's employer, American Medical Response, will collect
donations to the Bryan Stow Fund.

Fans can still make contributions at www.sfpcu.org.

The attack on Stow was the latest in a series of incidents that have damaged Dodger Stadium's reputation. 

The Dodgers forfeited a game in 1995 after fans threw promotional baseballs on to the field after a ninth inning ejection of lead-off hitter Raul Modesi and manager Tommy Lasorda.

A fan was shot and killed in a Dodger Stadium parking lot in 2003.

A short-lived promotion in 2005 that reduced some tickets to $2
became dubbed "$2 Riot Night'" prompted an increase in security and may have influenced the Dodger's decision Wednesday to cancel their half-price beer days.

At the Dodgers' 2009 home opener, a 30-year-old man was stabbed in a
stadium parking lot following the game.

City News Service provided information for this report.