Do more cops make Fresno Tower District safer? ‘Presence alone does not prevent crime’

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An expert on nightlife and policing said Fresno Police Department’s push to allocate dozens of police to the Fresno’s nightlife corridor won’t by itself stop crime or improve safety.

Fresno PD has beefed up its presence in the Tower District in recent years, where bars, music venues and clubs attract hundreds of partygoers every weekend. Police Chief Mindy Casto said this increased police presence — which started around 2024 — is due to “volatility of the crowd,” especially in the late night hours, when people gather on the sidewalks after bars close. On some nights, there are up to 30 officers assigned to the area, she said.

Dimitrios Mastoras, an expert on evidenced-based nightlife and policing, said there will always be a certain level of public intoxication and disorderly conduct in a nightlife district. But, speaking generally, he said increasing police presence without a clear strategy rooted in prevention does not improve safety in nightlife districts.

“The typical responses from police departments are to ramp up enforcement or ramp up presence,” Mastoras said in an interview with The Bee. “Presence alone does not prevent crime.”

Not all law enforcement agrees with this: District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp said during a Board of Supervisors meeting last week that “police presence and law enforcement presence deters crime. Period. End of story.”

Mastoras speaks from experience: He’s a retired Master Police Officer from Arlington County Police Department where he served as the county’s first nightlife liaison. Mastoras was responsible for addressing the shootings, stabbings, assaults and other alcohol-related issues that plagued the highly-trafficked, high-density nightlife area known as Clarendon, across the Potomac River near Washington D.C., he said. Today, he is executive vice president of Safe Night LLC, a consulting firm that helps cities manage nightlife, manage alcohol-related hard and increase community trust and safety.

Lt. Larry Bowlan, a spokesperson for Fresno PD, said in a statement that Fresno police employs a multitude of strategies, such as those suggested by Mastoras, though it doesn’t “employ a consultant to coordinate our efforts.”

“We are aware that we can never arrest our way out of an issue, which is why we work collaboratively with businesses in the Tower District to ensure their patrons and employees are safe,” Bowlan said. “Unlike other cities where the nightlife and drinking are the primary issues, in Fresno, we are concerned with gang presence in the Tower.”

Bowlan said the MAGEC team — Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium— is an important component of policing the Tower District and provides intelligence on “impending conflict between gang members in the Tower.”

“Their ability to recognize rival gang members and intervene before violence occurs is critical to maintaining safety in the Tower,” Bowlan said. Fresno PD also collaborates with violence intervention program Advance Peace to help prevent gang conflict from sparking in the Tower District as well, he said.

Fresno PD responds

Fresno PD said presence and visibility are only part of their strategy.

“While enforcement and higher visibility is a component of our strategy, our relationship with the businesses in the Tower is a strong one, with business owners generally welcoming the increased police presence,” Bowlan said.

The Central District Problem Oriented Policing Detective is in contact with business owners to ensure compliance with their Conditional Use Permits issued by the city including monitoring for over-serving alcohol.

The department also works closely with code enforcement to address non-policing issues like that tend to draw the crowds to party in the streets rather than patronize the businesses, particularly after hours when the businesses are closed,” Bowlan said.

Fresno PD has said that the presence of food trucks has contributed to the “volatility of the crowd” and that their presence encourages people to congregate on the streets after hours.

Mastoras said street vendors aren’t the problem. He said he’d rather young kids “fill their bellies up with tacos” because the goal is harm reduction.

“As long as they were operating in a legitimate way, and they brought something to the district, I think we should find ways to say yes and support these types of things,” he said.

Nightlife expert weighs in

Mastoras recalls that in his experience, throwing more cops at the nightlife district he was in charge of was “clearly not working.”

He ended up developing an evidence-backed, relationship-based model that engages multiple agencies and stakeholders such as bar-owners to build a culture of safety in nightlife zones. Part of this work involves intervening before violent crime takes place, based on research that intoxication, disorderly conduct and simple assault were precursors to aggression.

Today, he consults with cities that want to improve safety in nightlife zones, such as Fort Worth.

“They (Fort Worth) just had ton of cops standing around, holding up police cars, and no interaction, no engagement, no prevention-based work,” he said.

Now, he said, officers have been assigned to certain problem areas, have specific responsibilities and are tracking incidents before crime takes place. The department — alongside business owners, residents and patrons — are trying to understand why a certain type of place attracts violence. Part of this means tracking prevention-based work that doesn’t result in an arrest, ticket, or a report, like breaking up a fight and sending people on their way, Mastoras said.

“Instead of just identifying a drunk on the street and locking them up, we would say, 'Get them into an Uber,’” he said.

After six months, he said, public intoxication fell around 50%, disorderly conduct fell 60% and aggravated assault fell 76%.