They be hatin'
A small group of people, who were wearing funny uniforms and alleging to represent the City of San Francisco and its parks, were out Sunday evening claiming to be enforcing laws established by “the people of San Francisco.” Their actions included, but were not limited to, disturbing a small dance party due to noise (while a Mustang with no muffler drove by), demanding an owner of a moped leave the park (only after calling some sort of oracle and inquiring if it was illegal to park a motorized vehicle on the grass), and impolitely asking someone to water the grass with a Stella Artois. Most park-goers failed to recognize the legitimacy of these individuals and continued to drink “the devil’s nectar.”
This bicycle-basket dance party was shut down by individuals claiming to represent the City of San Francisco.
Previous on Mission Mission:
I saw these jokers and nobody so much as flinched. My friend and I sat trying to figure out who they were. Park Rangers?
Not Park Rangers. Park Rangers carry guns, and Dolores Park isn’t a State Park.
Oops, I guess there are City Park Rangers:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_index.asp?id=21884
The uniform is confusing, though.
I fear that may be a Sisyphean effort on the part of the park rangers to stop the drinking, impromptu dance parties and all the other non-sanctioned (street crimes!!!) things that go on in the Dolo.
Last weekend there were turntables in the middle of the park.
This ain’t Huntington Park… DPs history as a primo place to score (sex, drugs, whatever) is not that far in the past.
was it actual park rangers? i dont know what their uniform looks like.
be fascinating to know….and to know why they’ve come. no way Parks Dept (or whomever runs them) would send these poor saps to DP on a weekend without someone complaining, and loudly.
i promise, it wasn’t me. barring serious violence, i figure whatever low level dealing happens in DP on a busy weekend stays in DP on a busy weekend.
(that said, it’s no surprise if people complain).
hats, polyester pants, shirts with patches & official looking belts. looks like someone’s organized these guys.
stupid way to get anything done, imho. (as if this shit needs doing).
totally alienating & ineffectual…like square-badge cops on a college campus (to which DP on a weekend is strikingly similar).
were they writing tickets? or just saying “move along”?
Writing tickets. It was a sad day.
huh. then real rangers.
yeah, someone’s getting vocal. no doubt.
Surely someone on here will know someone with a ticket. Let’s get a look-see @ the ticket and trace it back to the source.
Peace,
–Wade
Tickets? Really?
I was fairly close to all this and didn’t notice that. In fact I was watching with a beer in hand about 10 feet away, they looked my way but kept moving.
Parking on the grass? I dunno, man, that’s pretty douchey.
Well, what about the police and firemen being in on mobbing and gangstalking and harassing people.
Only outlaws have fun
hmm
hi, I’m from Vietnam. Nice to visit your blog
Did they pick up the used condoms? Any citizens arrests? Give em a blow job and make them go away!!!
Same assholes, different day: http://sfist.com/2009/07/05/overzealous_park_rangers.php
Call your Supoervisor, and tell him to do something about these jerks:
Bevan Dufty
(415) 554-6968 – voice
(415) 554-6909 – fax
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 244
San Francisco, Ca 94102-4689
(415) 554-6968 – voice
(415) 554-6909 – fax
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
[...] is about to approve a harsh lean times budget and the Park Rangers have discovered the joys of harassing Dolores Park, this bit of news is reported by the Examiner’s Will Reisman. [...]
The folks on this site making flippant remarks about alleged harrassment by “people alleging to work for the City” don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Those people as Park Police, and they have every good reason to be there, folks. When people just set up big speakers and think they can have a raucous party in DP they need to realize that permits ARE required and that there are time/place/manner restrictions on park use, and that though many of these free-spirited souls think they can just do whatever they want, such is not the case. There are park rules and everyone needs to abide by them. If you consider that draconian or unreasonable, you’re entitled to your opinion, but in my book, impromptu birthday parties with 400 people, loud music and lots of trash left behind is NOT OK. For those of us who live around the park and must contend with the aftermath of these “fun events” and the oblivious behavior of many of the participants, things look a bit different than to those who can come to the park from elsewhere, have a great time, leave all their detritus behind, and leave.
The Park Police do NOT take “joy” in harrassing people; they are trying to do their job and are stretched to the max. If you consider what they are doing “harassment” then I say, please, harass us more!
Detailed story about how expensive, unnecessary, and heavy handed the Park Rangers are: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Lack-of-oversight-of-SF-park-patrol-raises-questions-50906812.html
“Impromptu birthday parties with 400 people, loud music and lots of trash left behind is NOT OK”
No it is not OK but I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. There are certainly days like that but I don’t think this the norm. Finally, I don’t think it would be hard to teach people to clean up after themselves. A good start would be to have more trash cans. However, throwing around citation and like is just going to cause confrontation. It also makes people feel that it is them vs the city. You don’t really want to have that if you want people to respect a piece of government land.
“The Park Police do NOT take “joy” in harrassing people”
Some probably do and most don’t. I understand your attempt to humanize the park officials but you tend to de-humanize the people having parties. These are bad times and entertainment needs to be cheap. I don’t think these people WANT to make your life uncomfortable.
“There are park rules and everyone needs to abide by them.”
Yes but do you know what they are? Does anyone? Are these rules reasonable for the times? What is your notion of perfect park patronage?
The first thing I would do for that park is add toilets and more trash cans. If they did that and people were still peeing and leaving their waste out it would be hard for them upset if they did get a citation.
Also you have to imagine that this is because the Parks and Rec department needs to bring in more revenue. $1000 rent for selling food in the park is a bit high for the people who typically sell food there. It really needs to be lower.
.
you make a good point regarding more trash cans.