Major League Baseball

Dodgers hire former LAPD chief Bratton

Published Apr. 6, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Dodgers have hired former Los Angeles police chief William Bratton to assess the team's security policies in the wake of a San Francisco Giants fan being severely beaten in the stadium's parking lot after the season opener.

Bratton develop a security blueprint that extends to both Dodger Stadium and its parking lots. Bratton and his team at New York-based security consulting firm Kroll will begin work immediately.

"I am pleased to have the opportunity to return to Los Angeles to consult with the Dodger organization on the security posture at Dodger Stadium," said Bratton. "We will take a full and comprehensive look at security procedures and processes, and make recommendations based on our findings."

Minutes before San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was beaten in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on Opening Day March 31, he texted a relative to say that he feared for his safety, his cousin said Tuesday.

In the text message, he said he was "scared inside the stadium," his cousin John Stow said, adding: "He doesn't use that term loosely."

A short time later, after the game had ended, the 42-year-old paramedic and father of two walked out to look for a taxi and was brutally attacked by two shaven-headed young men in Dodgers clothing.

The suspects began taunting and swearing at him and two other fans, who were all wearing Giants gear, police said. Stow was punched in the back of the head. He fell down, bashing his head on the pavement, and was kicked before the attackers ran off. They fled in a four-door sedan driven by a woman who had a boy with her, police said.

Composite sketches of the men have been released and detectives were looking into unconfirmed reports that the same suspects struck other Giants fans minutes before the attack.

Stow remains in a coma with a brain injury. At one point, doctors had to remove the entire left side of his skull to ease pressure on his brain. The pressure is now normal but Stow remains in a coma from his injuries and from sedation to reduce his brain activity, said Dr. Gabriel Zada, a neurosurgeon.

''There is evidence of brain injury and dysfunction,'' Zada said.

It was too early to make a prognosis but such injuries can affect memory, thinking ability and even personality, Zada added.

On Tuesday, Bryan Stow's family gathered outside Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and thanked well-wishers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and around the country for their support.

As the Dodgers head to San Francisco next week for the Giants' opening home stand, Stow's family called for civility among rival sports fans and asked those who saw anything or know the assailants to help detectives arrest those responsible.

A $100,000 reward is being offered for help in identifying the assailants.

Bratton left as LAPD chief in October 2009 to take a job with Kroll.

"Bill Bratton is widely credited with spearheading modern community policing in America," said Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. "There is no one better to lead a top-to-bottom review of our current practices and make recommendations to be implemented now and into the future.”

Bratton possesses extensive expertise in U.S. law enforcement that includes achieving major reductions in violent crimes when he led the New York City Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.

"We are committed to ensuring that Dodger Stadium remains a family-friendly environment for all baseball fans," McCourt said.

FOXSportsWest.com contributed to this report.