serious waste of police resources

300 Hipsters Resist Police Control of Dolores Park

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Last night was certainly a showdown in Dolores.  At 10pm, the cops rolled through the park to kick everyone out, only to immediately head out to 22nd and Capp South Van Ness to deal with an outbreak of gang violence.  At 11:30, as Dolores Park neighbor and reader Michael noted, the police came back in greater numbers to finish the job:

The police closed the park at 11:30 with multiple cop cars, sirens, megaphones, etc.  A cop-woman was shouting for 20 minutes straight in a plaintive tone.  About 300 people stayed to protest, and the cops just kept shining bright lights at them until they left… sad state of affairs. The Sept .1 community meeting should be a fucking hoot…

You know what was more disruptive than the sound of partiers? Sirens and megaphones. Egads.

A quick Twitter search indicates there was also a Rolling Stones sing-a-long during the protest.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

UPDATE: SFPD Now Doing Hourly Dirt Bike Patrols in Dolores Park, Leaving Two Officers Stationed Throughout the Day

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

The scene from 2 weeks ago.

As you may remember, nearly two weeks ago we reported that SFPD was renewing their campaign against fun with dirt bike cops rolling through Dolores Park on a chill Friday afternoon.  Well, it turns out that two weeks ago was only the beginning and the cops are now taking more drastic measures.  Starting at lunch today, reader Paul S. noted “cops are riding dirt bikes through the park. I want a moped to ride through their living rooms.”  He followed up saying that the cops were riding through the park “at least once an hour” and “going from group-to-group to see what they were up to.”

“What was remarkable about it was that in was a mellow Wednesday afternoon.  No one was even drinking heavily. […] The cops were riding in groups of two, one group on each side of the park.  After they were done bothering everybody, two of the cops would ride off and the other two would go to the top of the hill at the pedestrian bridge and just sit there watching everyone.  An hour later, the other two cops would come back and they would sweep the park again.”

While we're not an activist organization, rumors have it that NIMBYs are using the recent stabbing to pressure the parks department and SFPD into cracking down on weed, beer and cigarettes.  So far, they seem to be winning.  So feel free to contract these individuals if you want to let them know you do not support SFPD disturbing the peace and a couple of geezers trying to push their agenda on tens of thousands on San Franciscans:

Previously on Uptown Almanac: