City officials are trying to figure out what to do about a nightclub they say is tied to chronic crime issues, while the club manager said they need help from the police.
The discussion about Club Karma arose again following a weekend shooting tied to the club . Police, who will only say they're still investigating the incident, are tight-lipped about whether the shooting happened inside or outside of the club at 725 S. Division.
But on any given night, authorities said, Club Karma takes up a lot of their resources.
While not directly tied to the club, there was a triple shooting in May and a homicide nearby later in the summer.
Over time, GRPD officials said they've been trying to work with the club management.
Chris Howard, the club's manager, said he sees police "everyday. During the day, they're out there at the bar. At 9:45, they're there on certain nights. But come 1 a.m., when they know we're getting ready to let out, (the police) are nowhere in sight."
He added, "Seems like anything that happens in the area, we're the target. 'It happened at Karma.' That's not necessarily true."
Previously, Grand Rapids City Manager Greg Sundstrom weighed in on the overriding issue.
"It's unfair for business owners in any of our wards to rely on our police department to be their private security force. Some businesses think they have an outrageous problem, and maybe they don't. Vice versa, the businesses that typically have a problem don't think they do."
At the City Commission meeting Tuesday, the GRPD Vice Unit Commandeer gave the public safety committee an update on bars whose liquor licenses may be in jeopardy.
Club Karma wasn't mentioned. In fact, no bars at this time are being threatened with license revocation, but that could change, said one GRPD official.
"They need to know," Sundstrom said, "if they want to do business here in Grand Rapids there is an appropriate
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