"Crime on a Bench": Bernard's Benchsitting Protest of April 29, 2009

Nice work. Very good job.
When I visited Santa Cruz for Gay Pride I did get harrassed by some dude, on Pacific Ave, who was begging for money for a plane ticket. When the person demanded a response from me I told him your request is ridiculous. He then got mad and acted like he wanted to beat me; by slapping his hands together and calling me bitch, etc.
Which is the kind of stuff that makes me think twice about visiting small towns, and is one reason why those cops should be enforcing downtown ordinances.
Point: If you don't want cops harrassing you then get the riff-raff out of your town. Santa Cruz has bad people just like SF, and apparently laws are the only way to get them out of there. I do realize not all folks are bad, but some are very scary and need to be dealt with....

The SCPD officer pictures in the video refused to take a complaint. If she actually contacted her sergeant, she never advised us of the outcome. Bernard sat for 1 1/2 hours or so on the bench in spite of the attempt to enforce the law. This showed clearly how selective enforcement is used in Santa Cruz to drive away those that merchants finger. However if a complaint might embarrass the PD or the Downtown Association, it is ignored, in violation of the law.

Though I sympathize with the person who visited and was accosted, does she really think that MORE laws are the answer? Did the "no sidewalk chalk" law or the "no bench longer than an hour" law stop the person that harassed her?

We already have laws against AGGRESSIVE panhandling... do we really need more poorly-written, impossible-to-enforce laws?

And do we need laws that take away PUBLIC space?

I assume, since you were here for the Pride Celebration, that you are GLBT? How did you feel when there were laws to EXCLUDE you from being in public? Maybe you are too young to remember that, but I'm not.

People cannot help being GLBT, and some cannot help being homeless. AGGRESSIVE behavior should not be tolerated and there are already laws on the books for that. The new laws are taking away EVERYONE'S right to public space.

The new law can be found at http://www.codepublishing.com/CA/SantaCruz/

It is MC 9.50.013 and reads "9.50.013 SITTING DOWN ON PUBLIC BENCHES IN DESIGNATED CITY ZONES.

(a) In the C-C community commercial, C-N neighborhood commercial, C-B commercial beach, CBD central business district, and R-T tourist residential zoning districts, no person shall sit down upon or otherwise occupy a public bench or use a public bench to store property for more than a total of one hour during any given twelve-hour period.

(b) No person shall be cited under this section unless he or she has first been notified by a police officer, public officer or downtown host that he or she is in violation of the prohibition in this section, and thereafter continues the violation."

It is, of course, selectively enforced, or, as police like to say "on (merchant) complaint".