02.11.2006, 07:54
Hi allesamt,
am diesjährigen Halloween war ich in San Francisco und hab mich ins Getümmel gestürzt. Am nächsten morgen hab ich folgendes auf der Page der "San Francisco Chronicle" gelesen bzw. von 'nem Kollegen weitergeleitet bekommen. Das war genau an der Straßenkreuzung, wo ich mich mit meinen Kollegen zehn Minuten vorher getroffen hab und wir den Heimweg angetreten haben. Die Schießerei war gegen 22.40 Uhr und wir sind gegen 22.30 Uhr Richtung Auto gelaufen. Wer weiß wie wir zehn Minuten später ausgesehen hätten. War der absolute geile Oberhammer in San Francisco und ein Riesenfest, aber wenn ich das so les, dann hat das schon einen unangehmen Nachgeschmack.
Happy Halloween und willkommen in Amerika...
EDIT: Leider ist das nicht mehr genau der Artikel von heute morgen, aber das tut's auch.
City: Is the party over? City debates future of Halloween in the Castro
Aftermath of Halloween violence in Castro -- officials grapple with what to do next year
The day after nine people were shot at the annual Halloween party in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, city officials grappled with how to prevent a repeat of the violence next year.
Castro residents debated whether it's time to shut down the decades-old tradition once and for all.
And some revelers, who reported witnessing lapses in security measures Tuesday night, said trouble might be avoided simply by law enforcement officials working a little harder and smarter.
Four years after the infamous Halloween gathering in which four people were stabbed, city officials made changes they said were aimed at making Tuesday's event quieter and safer.
They announced that festivities would end at 11 p.m. instead of midnight, a strong police presence would be on hand, and entertainment would be limited to one stage instead of three.
But this year's event became violent when, according to police, a dispute between members of a Visitacion Valley gang and a group from the Ingleside escalated into gunfire near the event's main stage on the 2200 block of Market Street. Nine people suffered minor gunshot wounds, and a 10th was injured when she either fell or was trampled.
"We had done everything that we could imagine doing ... and now it turns out (that) a scenario we could have never imagined occurred," Mayor Gavin Newsom told The Chronicle on Wednesday.
"It just takes a few people to destroy an event for everybody," Newsom continued. "Thank God no one was killed. ... That would probably have ended the event immediately, and that does not mean we will not consider shutting this event down in the future."
Newsom, Police Chief Heather Fong, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Sheriff Michael Hennessey and Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represents the Castro, met in Newsom's office Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether the party should continue and how to make it safer if it does take place next year.
Little was decided beyond the creation of a group to study potential solutions.
"We have a year to do it right or not to do it at all, and that's the determination that will be made in the next days and weeks," Newsom said.
Hennessey said attempting to end the party could pose its own law enforcement challenges.
"People will come, no matter how much publicity there is," he said. "Either way, it will be a manpower issue next year.''
Newsom said new safety measures being discussed include requiring people to pay a fee to enter the party, setting an age limit for partygoers, using metal detectors at the security checkpoints -- and possibly scaling down the size of the party over the next few years with the goal of ultimately shutting it down.
Newsom said 500 police officers and 100 sheriff's deputies were on hand in the Castro Tuesday night. He said they searched people for weapons, but that those wearing large costumes were not asked to remove them as part of the searches.
"Somehow, someone slipped in with a weapon," he said. "The question is, what could we have done differently? We're going to analyze that."
Several people who attended the festivities Tuesday night said police weren't searching the revelers at all.
"I passed through several gates, and although police were present, they were not searching bags or patting anyone down," said Barbara Westburg. "Maybe they should have been."
Monica Green said she entered the area at 18th and Castro streets around 9 p.m. and also didn't see police checking anyone. She said she told a police officer that a man next to her had a box cutter and the officer "simply shrugged."
Paul Legato said police officers made some people open their backpacks but didn't pat anyone down.
"Everyone there could have had a gun stuck in their belt for all the cops knew," he said. "They were more concerned with people bringing a bottle of beer in."
Fong said officers at the nine checkpoints to the event had conducted only visual searches because patting down an estimated 100,000 partygoers would require "a lot more resources. We had hundreds of people streaming up to the gate."
With an election less than a week away, the fallout took a political turn, too. Dufty, who is up for re-election and has served as City Hall point man on efforts to curb violence and protect the interests of Castro residents and merchants, is coming under criticism.
Alix Rosenthal, who is running against Dufty for supervisor in District 8, said the city's security and safety preparation "was badly conceived and badly executed."
Speaking at a press conference at Castro and Market streets, she said: "We can do better. It's time for creative leadership and decisive leadership to protect this neighborhood from crime in the future."
With Rosenthal was Ted Strawser, who founded San Francisco Party Party last year to combat what he views as the suburbanization of the city. He called Halloween in the Castro "Gay Christmas" and "San Francisco's New Year" and said it was clear city officials were trying to kill it.
Tuesday night's event "was orchestrated to be a disaster," he said, adding that if the city can't hold a safe Halloween party, it has no business making a bid for the Olympic Games.
Dufty refused to respond to the criticism, saying he would have more to say Nov. 8 -- the day after the election.
"I'm not going to play politics with this," he said. "My focus today has been on the people who are recovering."
Residents of the Castro and partygoers who spoke to a Chronicle reporter were split on whether the annual revelry should continue.
"It's a shame," said Rusty Best, who was at Peet's Coffee in the Castro. "A lot of people come to have a good time, and then a few people every year cause enough trouble to make the whole event a fiasco. I don't believe anything can be done. It needs to go away.''
But Jessica Acosta said it would be unfair to cancel the event.
"As someone who had been unsure about going in the past, I felt confident in attending because the security was supposed to be tighter this year," she said. "I went, I danced, I had fun, I left. . . . (Some people) decided it would be better to get violent. Punish them, not us."
(Quelle)
am diesjährigen Halloween war ich in San Francisco und hab mich ins Getümmel gestürzt. Am nächsten morgen hab ich folgendes auf der Page der "San Francisco Chronicle" gelesen bzw. von 'nem Kollegen weitergeleitet bekommen. Das war genau an der Straßenkreuzung, wo ich mich mit meinen Kollegen zehn Minuten vorher getroffen hab und wir den Heimweg angetreten haben. Die Schießerei war gegen 22.40 Uhr und wir sind gegen 22.30 Uhr Richtung Auto gelaufen. Wer weiß wie wir zehn Minuten später ausgesehen hätten. War der absolute geile Oberhammer in San Francisco und ein Riesenfest, aber wenn ich das so les, dann hat das schon einen unangehmen Nachgeschmack.
Happy Halloween und willkommen in Amerika...
EDIT: Leider ist das nicht mehr genau der Artikel von heute morgen, aber das tut's auch.
City: Is the party over? City debates future of Halloween in the Castro
Aftermath of Halloween violence in Castro -- officials grapple with what to do next year
The day after nine people were shot at the annual Halloween party in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood, city officials grappled with how to prevent a repeat of the violence next year.
Castro residents debated whether it's time to shut down the decades-old tradition once and for all.
And some revelers, who reported witnessing lapses in security measures Tuesday night, said trouble might be avoided simply by law enforcement officials working a little harder and smarter.
Four years after the infamous Halloween gathering in which four people were stabbed, city officials made changes they said were aimed at making Tuesday's event quieter and safer.
They announced that festivities would end at 11 p.m. instead of midnight, a strong police presence would be on hand, and entertainment would be limited to one stage instead of three.
But this year's event became violent when, according to police, a dispute between members of a Visitacion Valley gang and a group from the Ingleside escalated into gunfire near the event's main stage on the 2200 block of Market Street. Nine people suffered minor gunshot wounds, and a 10th was injured when she either fell or was trampled.
"We had done everything that we could imagine doing ... and now it turns out (that) a scenario we could have never imagined occurred," Mayor Gavin Newsom told The Chronicle on Wednesday.
"It just takes a few people to destroy an event for everybody," Newsom continued. "Thank God no one was killed. ... That would probably have ended the event immediately, and that does not mean we will not consider shutting this event down in the future."
Newsom, Police Chief Heather Fong, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Sheriff Michael Hennessey and Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represents the Castro, met in Newsom's office Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether the party should continue and how to make it safer if it does take place next year.
Little was decided beyond the creation of a group to study potential solutions.
"We have a year to do it right or not to do it at all, and that's the determination that will be made in the next days and weeks," Newsom said.
Hennessey said attempting to end the party could pose its own law enforcement challenges.
"People will come, no matter how much publicity there is," he said. "Either way, it will be a manpower issue next year.''
Newsom said new safety measures being discussed include requiring people to pay a fee to enter the party, setting an age limit for partygoers, using metal detectors at the security checkpoints -- and possibly scaling down the size of the party over the next few years with the goal of ultimately shutting it down.
Newsom said 500 police officers and 100 sheriff's deputies were on hand in the Castro Tuesday night. He said they searched people for weapons, but that those wearing large costumes were not asked to remove them as part of the searches.
"Somehow, someone slipped in with a weapon," he said. "The question is, what could we have done differently? We're going to analyze that."
Several people who attended the festivities Tuesday night said police weren't searching the revelers at all.
"I passed through several gates, and although police were present, they were not searching bags or patting anyone down," said Barbara Westburg. "Maybe they should have been."
Monica Green said she entered the area at 18th and Castro streets around 9 p.m. and also didn't see police checking anyone. She said she told a police officer that a man next to her had a box cutter and the officer "simply shrugged."
Paul Legato said police officers made some people open their backpacks but didn't pat anyone down.
"Everyone there could have had a gun stuck in their belt for all the cops knew," he said. "They were more concerned with people bringing a bottle of beer in."
Fong said officers at the nine checkpoints to the event had conducted only visual searches because patting down an estimated 100,000 partygoers would require "a lot more resources. We had hundreds of people streaming up to the gate."
With an election less than a week away, the fallout took a political turn, too. Dufty, who is up for re-election and has served as City Hall point man on efforts to curb violence and protect the interests of Castro residents and merchants, is coming under criticism.
Alix Rosenthal, who is running against Dufty for supervisor in District 8, said the city's security and safety preparation "was badly conceived and badly executed."
Speaking at a press conference at Castro and Market streets, she said: "We can do better. It's time for creative leadership and decisive leadership to protect this neighborhood from crime in the future."
With Rosenthal was Ted Strawser, who founded San Francisco Party Party last year to combat what he views as the suburbanization of the city. He called Halloween in the Castro "Gay Christmas" and "San Francisco's New Year" and said it was clear city officials were trying to kill it.
Tuesday night's event "was orchestrated to be a disaster," he said, adding that if the city can't hold a safe Halloween party, it has no business making a bid for the Olympic Games.
Dufty refused to respond to the criticism, saying he would have more to say Nov. 8 -- the day after the election.
"I'm not going to play politics with this," he said. "My focus today has been on the people who are recovering."
Residents of the Castro and partygoers who spoke to a Chronicle reporter were split on whether the annual revelry should continue.
"It's a shame," said Rusty Best, who was at Peet's Coffee in the Castro. "A lot of people come to have a good time, and then a few people every year cause enough trouble to make the whole event a fiasco. I don't believe anything can be done. It needs to go away.''
But Jessica Acosta said it would be unfair to cancel the event.
"As someone who had been unsure about going in the past, I felt confident in attending because the security was supposed to be tighter this year," she said. "I went, I danced, I had fun, I left. . . . (Some people) decided it would be better to get violent. Punish them, not us."
(Quelle)
