Are Cops Serious About Bay to Breakers Keg Crackdown?
You've probably already heard that the fine citizens and business owners along the route of the annual heterosexual pride parade known as Bay to Breakers were pissed last year about all the pissing and unhinged revelry that went on outside their windows. So this year, the SFPD has vowed to crack down and "temper" the race, but from the sound of it, we don't have to worry about this becoming a sober footrace anytime soon. "If we can just bring it back to the way it was four or five years ago, we'll be fine," says Lt. Nicole Greely, who's overseeing security for the event. According to this morning's piece in the Chron, police are mostly concerned with unregistered participants joining the race and straining resources, in addition to cracking down on glass bottles and floats with kegs.
Die-hard revelers (like this group) figure this just means more CamelBaks filled with booze. There's also probably going to be some issues with enforcement. Race teams like "The Godfathers," whose "Disco to Breakers" float last year carried 27 kegs of beer and a couple kegs of mixed drinks -- as tattled on by the slightly prudish-sounding John Coté in the Chron -- vow to sneak their booze-filled float into the parade halfway down the race route if they can, so we're imagining a lot of Keystone Cops scenarios where the SFPD chases down one group of wigged frat boys trying to push a miniature tanker truck filled with Budweiser onto Market Street, only to have three more keg floats push in behind them while they're distracted.
We at SFist wish everyone the best of luck getting shitfaced at eight in the morning without any interference from The Man. Just try not to piss on any restaurant windows right in the middle of brunch service like this friend of ours did last year. Cheers.