New Downtown police patrols should help in Union Plaza

Another weekend, another ugly incident at Union Plaza in Downtown El Paso.

This time it was a stabbing, bringing more concern about what’s become one of the most popular areas of town to party.

Business owners in this area were hesitant to speak with ABC-7 about this latest incident, but City Rep. Cortney Niland said a solution is on the way.

“Union Plaza has come a long way,” said Nevena Christi, who owns Rocketbuster Boots, in Union Plaza.

Christi says she loves the area, but has grown tired of recent incidents.

“The clubs started coming in and we don’t really see that but we see the after effects,” she said. “So we’ve seen the trash, we’ve seen the broken glass and all that.”

According to El Paso Police, a fight erupted at the 1914 Lounge early Sunday morning, spilling over into the streets of Union Plaza, resulting in the stabbing of a 22-year-old. According to bar owners in the area, many who would not speak on camera, one of the big issues in the area was Club New York.

“Recently, with the onslaught of Club New York and sort of trying to get a younger crowd,” Christi said, “then here comes the mess again.”

“One time is too many,” City Rep. Cortney Niland said. “So that’s why we’re taking the necessary steps to address the issue.”

Niland said help is on the way.

“With the amount of investments that we’ve made in Downtown, with the amount of private sector investments that have been made in downtown, it’s imperative that we put forth the resources to protect those investments,” said Niland, who indicated a new Downtown Police Patrol is in the works. “Luckily for us we were able to identify some funding in this last budget session and we will be able to put extra officers in an academy this spring that will then go toward the creation of a Downtown force.”

Niland said she is confident there will be fewer incidents once the patrol begins.

“When they have hired off duty police officers, when they have that security down there on a regular basis, they see dramatic improvements,” she said.

Although there was a stabbing in the area over the weekend, ABC-7 was told that incidents in Union Plaza have been quelled quite a bit since Club New York was shut down a couple of months ago. Niland said they hope to have the new police patrols Downtown by the end of spring.