The San Francisco Police Department has assigned more officers to Dolores Park to increase its “presence” after the near-fatal stabbing of a man after midnight on July 31.
“Ever since that night we’ve been trying to make sure we have a visible presence,” said officer Albie Esparza. He added that the extra officers will be there daily and there is no estimate of how long the extra patrols will remain.
Uptown Almanac first reported extra officers on dirt bikes this weekend, saying that they made visitors throw away their beers, leash their dogs, and stop selling ice cream, and cited a hot dog vendor.
SF Weekly is reporting that Gerard Rivera, one of the men accused of stabbing the man in the park, will be arraigned today on four counts, including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery and receiving and buying stolen property.
While I agree that “real” crimes, meaning crimes that harm others, are more imminent and merit much more attention from our hypocrite police force, I have to say that especially the drug use in Dolores Park is quite annoying. I don’t mind people walking their dogs without leash and even less people selling hot dogs (God forbid, it’s a Hot Dog!!!) BUT is it really necessary to make this beautiful park a mecca for pot heads and other junkies? Not to mention people urinating in public, leaving their trash, etc..
I took my 15-year-old sister who came visiting me in SF to the park and so regretted it: People selling hash cookies, people smoking up in front of us, people being half naked almost having sex. Really necessary?? Maybe I’m too old fashioned but I think that there’s a line that was crossed at Dolores Park and it’s too bad because it deprives a large number of citizens to go there and actually enjoy it. We also give a horrible example to the younger generation…
Have any of you ever been through the Tenderloin or down 6th St at 1PM – any day of the week? I would much prefer a little police presence in those areas where the real problems are happening. Leave the park goers to enjoy the park and let’s work on cleaning up the real problem areas of our city.
@FranckD – I’m quite interested in finding out what Dolores Park was like back then. You have a good source of photos or articles? Was it really that dodgy? When did the park start becoming all hip?
You people are all idiots. Try hanging out in Dolores Park in the early 90s. You suburban transplants would have wet your Batman underoos with the crime and filth.
exactly, how about a police presence in the park and the nearby streets used for transit, like 18th, or the 19th street bridge from 1am to 2am, when real crime is happening, rather than Saturday at 1pm
Matt,
No offense, but you’re an idiot.
The cops are just using the recent stabbing as an excuse to try and “clean up” the park. This is all being done to appease the wealthy home-owners around the park – same thing happened late last summer.
How about these cops roll around the park at 2AM on the weekends?
Heavy-handed policing is ultimately counterproductive because it undermines support for law enforcement. People who would ordinarily support law enforcement efforts against major crimes (e.g., murder, rape, robbery) stop helping the police when they are treated like criminals over lemonade stands or improperly walking their dog. A recent example is the UK, where Labor Party’s wholesale criminalization of everything, combined with random stops and searches of citizens, led the working and middle classes to stop supporting the police (and the Labor Party), and to endorse the massive austerity program of the Conservative/Liberal Democratic coalition.
The police have ALWAYS had discretion to ignore “minor” crimes to help their relationship with the community. Examples:
(1) The SFPD, for example, does not become involved with immigration matters, even when they involve violations of federal criminal law. “Illegal reentry after deportation” is a FELONY, especially when the someone with a criminal record is deported, and illegally returns to America. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/16/local/me-crackdown16 Why? Because the police do not want an adversarial relationship with communities containing a large number of illegal immigrants.
(2) Until the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws in 2003, consensual gay sex was a crime in 14 states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas#Broader_implications Sodomy arrests were rare, however, because the police focused on real crimes, many of which carried lesser sentences than those for sodomy. Why? Because the police rightly focused real crimes and left the gay community alone. When, for example, the police in Palm Springs recently began arresting gay men for cruising in parks, I was one of those who contacted the city to complain that they should stop harassing us LGBTS and focus on real crime.
“When was justice ever as simple as a rule book?” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
Matt:
Get of your high horse. The cops are there to make a presence because they got some bad press from not enforcing curfew regulations in the park. Now they need to generate some revenue to prove they are actually doing something…that’s how it works I’m sorry to say.
Your fundamentalist approach to police work is not helpful in the long run.
You don’t get to have it both ways. You want to prevent stabbings, then you need a police presence. They’re there to enforce laws, all of them, including dogs being on leashes, and drinking in the park. They are not given the liberty to arbitrarily enforce only the laws that you think they should, and you’re lucky it’s that way. If you don’t like certain laws get off your ass and start a grass roots effort to have them overturned or rewritten. That’s your right to do so. Embrace it.
Do they really need to tear up the park with motorcycles on the grass? I sympathize that they need to enforce the whole of the law (that’s their job), but really, people want you to focus on stopping stabbings and muggings right now, not dog leashing or hot dog selling.
We just need more officers like this guy in the park:
good stuff but, come’on ..
focus on the bad guys and leave the park-goers / vendors alone.