A downtown entertainment club is taking a stand against violence after a number of incidents over the weekend forced the club to shut down.

“It was just mass chaos, I did not feel safe at all. This left a bad taste in my mouth because I’ve never seen it get that crazy before and security not be able to handle it,” said Michael Bernola, Club Marcella patron.

Bernola says he’s been to Club Marcella several times before, but he says what he saw last Saturday was unacceptable.

Buffalo Police responded to the club several times Saturday night after fights broke out. Police had to close the club 20 minutes before its 4 a.m. closing.

“Around closing time that’s when problems tend to uptick. The later it is, the more people have consumed beverage wise and it leads to issues,” said Capt. Jeff Rinaldo, Buffalo Police Department.

In the last six months, police responded to more than 50 calls for trouble at the establishment. Michael Slyder, Chief Financial Officer for Club Marcella, says the majority of those calls are about things happening outside in nearby parking lots, which the club doesn’t own.

“Security is number one for us, it’s our first priority and while some of the problems occur outside of our place, including the parking lots, include some of our customers but it’s obviously not all of our customers,” said Slyder.

Club Marcella is working with police to look at security changes. The club remains open.

Slyder says he wants to organize a nightlife entertainment association with other bar owners, police and parking lot attendants to minimize crime near the Chippewa Entertainment District. A few years ago, he created a similar organization in Miami.

“What we have to do is all come together, say we’re all in this together, we’re all benefiting from it and we all need to work to reduce crime and prevent crime from happening,” said Slyder.

Capt. Rinaldo says permanent club shut downs usually happen after violent crimes or when owners aren’t cooperating. Club Marcella is cooperating, according to police. Rinaldo says police are working with all bar and club owners to keep all entertainment districts safe.

“Sometimes it is out of the hands of the owners in terms of a bad element that starts to frequent an establishment causing problems, but it’s really on the owner of the establishment to do everything they can to prevent these problems from occurring,” said Rinaldo.