Just a quick follow-up regarding that annoying video from last week in which a group of guys reacted ungraciously to a couple of Rec & Parks patrol officers who busted them for having a full DJ set up in Dolores Park. Amongst the backtalk was at least one cheap shot about one of the officers' "dental work," and many of us could agree that this was not the classiest way to handle the situation. (Also, as much as we at SFist rail against the War on Fun, we understand that Rec & Parks is just trying to maintain some semblance of order in the chaos, and they're not really busting people for open containers so long as you're being mostly well behaved and drinking out of cups when they pass by.) In the sober light of day, the guy who made the video, Matthew Card, has now apologized via Mission Local, saying, "The more I think about it, the more I know and admit that I could have handled the situation better." He adds, "I care about SF and Dolores a lot, and it sucks that I went about this the wrong way."
The apology comes after Card proudly posted the video to Facebook, in protest of the Rec & Parks crackdown, and a fair number of commenters told him he was in the wrong.
The citation came because Card and some friends, as he admits, "had brought a laptop and a mixer to the park and were playing music through a speaker." The setup involved a folding table, and in the video, one of the officers keeps pointing to the setting up of furniture, which is not allowed Card and his friends were ultimately cited for playing amplified music, however, which many people do in the park on a regular basis, sans mixer and laptop.
Mission Local also spoke to the officer in question, who bore the brunt of the insults, officer J. Chan. He wrote in to say, "Our Park Patrol officers focus on outreach and education as well as issuing citations when people are warned and do not comply."
So, there you go. A lot of you will just be given warnings, unless the offenses are egregious or unless you harass the officers like these guys did. Also, if you see them coming, put out your cigarettes.
And for god's sake, clear all your trash! (Cigarette butts and bottle caps included. That grass is starting to look like the floor of a roadhouse.)