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NAACP, club owner wary as police get new power

A law that allows San Jose's police chief to shut nightclubs he deems a threat to public safety gets its first weekend test tonight amid criticism by the NAACP and some local business owners that clubs frequented by blacks and Latinos will be targeted.

The dispute has put friends like police Chief Robert Davis and San Jose NAACP chapter President Rick Callender on opposite sides, and challenged the reputation of a department that prides itself on being a national leader in racial sensitivity.

The ordinance, approved Tuesday by the City Council, allows Davis to suspend the license of clubs he considers a problem. It follows a series of violent incidents over the past few months at different nightspots.

The most recent was an early-morning shooting on Oct. 22 outside the Ambassador Lounge, a club at 175 N. San Pedro St. Fifty shots were fired, and three people were wounded. Two arrests were made.

"There were uniformed police officers on foot within 100 feet of the shooting," said Davis. "They knew the police were there. You had officers diving for cover."

Police, concerned that more trouble could break out the following weekend, asked the club's owner to stay closed for a "cooling off" period. But the club opened the following week under a new name -- B-Hive, Davis said.

"At the last minute, the owner decided they weren't going to do it," Davis said. "What could we do? Nothing."

Davis now has the authority to suspend a club's entertainment license for up to 30 days. An owner can appeal, requiring a response from police within five days.

B-Hive owner Menassa Abinadar, who changed the name from the Ambassador to that of a club he used to own, said he never agreed to close. He said he told police he would reopen with added security and with two officers in the area.

"We agreed to work with them," said Abinadar, who said police officers targeted his black customers and questioned several people outside the club the week after the shooting.

Abinadar was celebrating the first anniversary of his club's opening the night of the shooting. He said there were no serious incidents previously. "I do not consider my club as a problem club; I consider my club as a black club," Abinadar said. "This ordinance was made to get my club out of San Jose."

Abinadar has since agreed to keep the club closed until Nov. 25, as a cooling off period, but considers the ordinance unfair. "It's in one man's hands," said Abinadar, who co-owns the club with popular Bay Area rapper E-40. "One man can close your business for 30 days."

The NAACP's Callender said blacks and Latinos visiting downtown have for weeks been repeatedly stopped and questioned by police. He expects police activity to intensify now that the ordinance has been approved.

Callender has contacted state and federal authorities about launching an investigation to determine whether police are engaging in racial profiling.

"They (police) have a brigade out there, an army," said Callender. "Anyone who is black and turns their car onto that street gets stopped."

"It (the ordinance) empowers the police to shut down any club they deem a problem. But the only clubs the police put themselves outside of are black and Latino clubs," he said.

Walter Wilson, past vice president of the local NAACP chapter, owns a computer business downtown. He said he saw police stop and question 30 black people the night of Friday, Oct. 28, in the area surrounding the B-Hive.

"I've noticed them stopping a disproportionate number of African American youth," Wilson said.

Several African Americans interviewed Thursday by The Chronicle said they don't feel welcome in the downtown area at night.

"I don't like driving through here," said Keith Collins, 51, who works at a downtown real estate company. "Very few of us feel comfortable coming down here."

Standing across the street from the black-painted, shuttered B-Hive, San Jose resident Ronald Covington said police have made him wary of going out.

"I don't go to clubs just 'cause it's so much of a hassle coming down here," said Covington, 39.

Davis says that since the shooting, no citizen has filed any complaint alleging police harassment in the downtown area.

The criticism is aimed at a police force that in 1999 became the first department in the nation to voluntarily conduct its own racial profiling study on stops made by officers. Davis, meanwhile, has made a point of publicly reaching out to minority groups, including a 30-day fast with the Muslim community during the holy month of Ramadan.

"I would describe the sentiment of the Police Department as very disappointed by the charges," Davis said.

Rick Jensen, communications director for the San Jose Downtown Association, said the debate over the ordinance has distorted the perception of the city.

The association represents about 1,800 businesses, including more than 20 bars and nightclubs. It urged the council not to adopt the ordinance until the issue could be studied in detail.

"San Jose is the safest large city in America. It's sort of the Chicken Little phenomenon," said Jensen. "There really is no epidemic of violence in downtown San Jose."