Second Street Nightlife’s Missing Link

Since early 2024, Second Street has seen a cluster of serious, nightlife-adjacent incidents: a Feb. 18, 2024 shooting during a fight that killed 32-year-old Johnny Santos; a deadly stabbing at Dave’s Hot Chicken two weeks later; two more stabbings in Sept. 2024; a gunshot fired during a street altercation June 1, 2025; a city “trio of recent shootings” that prompted extra patrols in June 2025; and now the Oct. 25 homicide tied to a bar dispute that spilled onto La Verne Avenue.

Despite the spike, there’s no publicly documented, standing liaison program between LBPD and Second Street bar owners – no ongoing safety working group, shared protocols, or published training cadence. What exists appears episodic: periodic “Know Your Limit” outreach walks by LBPD with MADD (August & December 2023) and reactive community meetings after violent incidents.

By contrast, the Belmont Shore Business Association highlights “Clean + Safe Teams” and private corridor security funded by parking revenues – but not a formal, continuous LBPD–venue liaison structure for violence prevention. That gap matters. Research on nightlife management shows coordinated customer selection policies, environmental controls, intoxication prevention, staff training, and rapid-response protocols reduce disorder – but only when they’re implemented consistently and jointly by venues and police.

Last year, following the first killing on Second Street, this writer sent a detailed message to the mayor, chief of police, district commander, Council District 3, and the Belmont Shore Business Association recommending precisely this kind of structured, preventive programming – built on collaboration, accountability, and transparency. What follows are those same recommendations, which remain as relevant now as they were then. The collective response at the time? Crickets.

What Should Happen Now

• Create a Second Street Nightlife Safety Working Group (LBPD, BSBA, venue operators, residents) with monthly meetings and public minutes.

• Publish a five-year “calls for service” analysis by address/time to identify high-impact locations and patterns, then tailor responses accordingly.

• Tie conditional-use permits to participation in standardized staff training (de-escalation, overservice prevention, ejection protocols), camera coverage standards and incident reporting.

• Adopt shared closing-time playbooks (staggered last call, exterior lighting/sightlines, radio nets) to keep disputes from spilling into side streets.

Second Street’s economy depends on a safe, lively corridor. The incidents of the past two years show the cost of ad hoc responses. A visible, continuous LBPD–operator liaison – formalized, measured, and public – should be the baseline, not the exception.

The time for press releases and reactive meetings has passed. The mayor, the District 3 councilwoman, and the chief of police owe this community more than condolences – they owe it coordination, leadership, and the political will to make these proven measures standard operating procedure before another life is lost.

Stephen Downing is a retired LAPD Deputy Chief, journalist, and civic advocate based in Long Beach. He writes the Exposing the Con, Defending Democracy newsletter on Substack.