Santa Clara police chief insists Levi's Stadium is safe

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara Police Chief on Wednesday said he has the data proving the 49ers home is a safe venue and that only a small fraction of fans behave badly.

The report comes after two high-profile fights involving fans at the stadium were caught on video.

One of the suspects arrested for assaulting a Minnesota Vikings fan after the 49ers home opener his stadium builders license agreement without a refund. A warning was sent out to all SBL holders if they're caught behaving poorly, they too will lose their license.

Violent video of 49er fans at Levi’s Stadium have gone viral whether it's fights in the bathroom or in the parking lot. Two weeks ago, there was a fight at the 49ers first game of the season against the Minnesota Vikings. However, the Santa Clara Police Chief is adamant Levi’s Stadium is “extremely safe.”

In a new report, since August 2014, the stadium has hosted 13 NFL games. The average attendance per game is 63,000 fans which the chief said is the population of the city of Mountain View.

Police have made 319 arrests averaging 24 per game. He said 230 of those arrests were for drunken behavior and 24 arrests were for assaults.

“I was quite surprised that 99.96 percent of the people attending all events behaved appropriately,” said Chief Sellers.

Interestingly enough, last year's international soccer game with Mexico vs. Chile netted the most arrests with 45. The least number of arrests, besides a San Jose Earthquakes game happened at the “One Direction” concert with two people ending up in handcuffs.

The Chief said arrests at Levi’s Stadium are higher than other stadiums because of the department's "zero" tolerance policy.

“I think there are just people in this country and in this society that will commit criminal behavior,” said Chief Sellers. “It doesn't matter how many how people are there or police are present. It’s just going to happen.”

However, despite the chief's findings some city council members said the stadium isn't safe enough, especially since the cost for public safety is $241,000 for NFL games.

“It’s our first year so I don't know what it means to be safe but I want to be safer,” said Santa Clara City Council Member Lisa Gillmor.

Gilmor is still pushing for cutting alcohol sales earlier than the third quarter, not allowing entrance to intoxicated fans or reducing tailgating hours.

“I was a little disappointed at the report but it doesn't stop here,” said Gillmor. “We are going to keep going."