Nipsey Hussle's Birthday Has Police on High Alert

Nipsey Hussle's birthday is still a couple weeks away ... but cops are already gearing up and bracing for a huge turnout at his Marathon Clothing store in his honor.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD has August 15 marked on its calendar, planning a heavy presence at the location where the rapper was shot and killed earlier this year.

The police force is fully aware Nipsey was a beloved member of the community, so its anticipating thousands of fans showing up to pay their respects on his bday.

We're told the LAPD is not taking any chances.

Our sources say more than 100 officers will be in the area -- but many will be in plain clothes because they don't want to come off as threatening.

Interestingly, Hussle's camp hasn't even released any official plans about how it will celebrate his bday ... but cops are making an educated guess it will revolve around Marathon.

Nipsey's memorial service and funeral procession were attended by thousands in April. We're told just like that gathering, cops don't foresee violence ... but they'll be ready if things get out of control.

As we reported ... Nipsey and his business partners were being investigated at the time of his death for alleged gang activity around his clothing store, despite the LAPD praising him at the very same time for taking a stand against gang violence.

The LAPD later said it wasn't specifically targeting Hussle ... just looking to curb the long-standing gang problem in the area surrounding Marathon.