Throngs of young people waited in line to enter bars and nightclubs on a warm Saturday night in Fresno’s arts and culture district.
A street vendor warmed bacon-wrapped hot dogs, jalapeños and onions on a grill. A group of young women approached a local food influencer known as Emilio Eats and walking along Olive Avenue towards Splash, a video dance bar. “We know you from Instagram!” they exclaimed.
Clubgoers in the Tower District seemed to pay little attention to the dozens of Fresno police vehicles driving up and down the nightlife corridor over the course of the night.
On the evening of Saturday Aug. 1, between 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., Bee reporters observed more than 30 patrol vehicles, motorcycle officers and a patrol helicopter policing a half-mile stretch of Olive Avenue. It’s unclear how many officers were present that night, but Fresno Police Department officials confirmed they sometimes have up to 30 deployed on weekend nights.
Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto in an interview said the department has beefed up its presence in the Tower District in the past two years.
There have been a few shootings in the area in recent months, but there hasn’t been an increase in crime. Rather, the increased police presence has been driven by what Casto described as preventative patrol due to the “volatility of the crowd.”
Casto said the late-night presence of food vendors means more people are congregating on the sidewalks, especially after the bars have already closed.
The department is not “anti-street vendor,” Casto said. But “the timing of it is very troublesome for us,” she said.
“After hours, when the bars let out, that’s when it requires a ton of resources,” Casto said. “It’s the after hours and it’s the street party. And it’s attracted a lot of our local street gangs and there’s a lot of volatility there,” she said.
Officers blocked off Olive and Wishon after a shooting in the Tower District on Sunday, May 24, 2026. ANTHONY GALAVIZ agalaviz@fresnobee.com
City leaders, businesses and Tower District residents have mixed reactions about the increased presence of police in what some have referred to as “Tower Vegas.” Some have pointed out the increased policing costs driven by police overtime, others question the need for so many officers. But there appears to be plenty of support from city elected officials and businesses alike.
Aaron Gosset, co-owner of the Lincoln Pub & Grub on Olive and Echo avenues said he’s “on board” with the expanded policing and that it’s helped with the late-night crowds.
“I love it,” he said in a recent interview. “The more police the better.”
Others question whether there’s a need for so many cops if violent crime is down to historically low levels across the city.
Alfred Andrete, a leader of the Fresno Resistance advocacy group that is an outspoken critic of Fresno police’s use of Flock cameras, has lived in the Tower District for more than 10 years. He said that over the years, he’s seen the occasionally rowdy drunk in the Tower, but he doesn’t think more policing is warranted. He also thinks there should have been more public dialogue with area residents first.
“Is this something that the residents of Tower are actually asking for?” he asked.
More police patrol in Fresno’s Tower District
Fresno PD decides how many resources to allocate to Tower based on intelligence gathered on who will be there, Casto said. The department’s Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC) team is there “almost every week.” Advance Peace, a community-based violence intervention program that works to deter gun and gang-related violence, is also involved in the area.
“They can sometimes intervene on the front end and just say, ‘hey, you need to stay out of the Tower,” Casto said. Through a spokesperson, Advance Peace Fresno declined an interview to discuss their work, but confirmed it is “engaged in multiple areas including the Tower District.”
On some weekend nights, Fresno PD will set up a mobile command center vehicle near the Dollar Tree on Olive Avenue — technically a type of military vehicle — for briefing, communications and restroom needs. It’s been active for about the past six weeks, which is the busiest time of year, and will be used on an as-needed basis, Casto said.
Part of their work in Tower is looking out for drunk drivers — which is a problem throughout the city, not just in Tower, officials said. Fresno Police have made 102 DUI arrests in the Tower District vicinity between January to Aug. 17, according to department spokesperson Lt. Larry Bowlan.
Much of the attention is focused on those late night hours. The presence of late-night street vendors makes it harder to wind down the night and shut down the Tower District after last call, officials said.
This has created an “open-air free for all party” on the sidewalks, Casto said.
“Four officers could clear it out back four or five years ago, and now it’s far more than that. There are times there’s over 30 officers now,” Casto said.
Patrons are taking note of the increased policing.
“Damn, everybody’s out here,” a popular TikToker called Sopita King said in a June 14 video during his first visit to the Tower District. “There’s a bunch of people and a bunch of policías.”
“That’s why I don’t go out there too many cops,” a commenter said.
Customers wait for their taco order from Casa del Sazon taco truck, left, on Olive Avenue in Fresno’s Tower District on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2025. Melissa Montalvo
This story was originally published August 20, 2026 at 2:41 PM.
The Fresno Bee
Melissa Montalvo is The Fresno Bee’s accountability reporter. Prior to this role, she covered Latino communities for The Fresno Bee as the part of the Central Valley News Collaborative. She also reported on labor, economy and poverty through newsroom partnerships between The Fresno Bee, Fresnoland and CalMatters as a Report for America Corps member.