TOPEKA (KSNT) - A street brawl outside a bar in Oakland was caught on camera. Now, one Topeka leader is calling for change.
This isn't the first time violence like we saw Saturday, March 16, has erupted in Oakland. In fact, Councilwoman Christina Valdivia-Alcala tells 27 News it's something she's been concerned about for over a year. Now, she's calling on police to do more. One Oakland resident, Michelle Good, saw the whole fight happen from her front balcony right across the street.
While she doesn't blame anyone for what happened, she does want somebody to do something.
"I believe it's a security issue," Good said. "They need to implement better security measures in order to cut down on the fighting. But, yeah, I'm highly surprised nobody drew a gun, and that scares me because I'm right across the street."
But Councilwoman Valdivia-Alcala says this isn't the first time Oakland bar-goers have turned violent. In fact, she says she's shared her concerns with police.
"I've been tracking along with the chief and others incidences at the bars in Oakland for a year and a half," Valdivia-Alcala said. "And as much as I support small businesses, first and foremost, I'm going to support and I'm going to take very seriously the safety of Oaklanders."
As for good, even after what she witnessed, she doesn't believe the issue is isolated Oakland.
"Oakland is a good area, I've never had any issues outside of the bar here," Good said. "A lot of these kids come from other areas to this bar. So, you know as far as Oakland getting bad name for it, I don't think it's appropriate."
But she wants action to be taken nonetheless, because this sort of thing seems to happen almost every Friday night.
"I would just assume that, you know, maybe the city work with the bar as far as implementing better security," Good said.
While good wants to see more security, Valdivia-Alcala says she's listening to her community, and has plans to meet with top law enforcement to address the issue.
"Law enforcement is doing what they can, but they are not meant to police bars and to prevent things that are really the responsibility of the bar owners," Valdivia-Alcala said. "With that said, I have a meeting scheduled this coming Friday with the Chief, the deputy Chief, to look at where we are now in the number of calls that have come through and look at what next steps are."
KSNT 27 News reached out to the city and Topeka Police for a statement on how they're addressing the issue. They told us they will have a response by the end of the day, Wednesday, March 20.
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
