Posted on 03/17/2008 9:57:35 PM PDT by Drango
Facing criticism over their handling of recent demonstrations, Berkeley police are bracing for a flood of protesters Wednesday marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war.
Police plan to have 50 or 60 extra officers on duty to keep crowds from getting out of control, Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said. ~snip
CodePink will have its usual protest in front of the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting center on Shattuck Avenue. Word Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime plans a protest at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, just a block and a half from the CodePink protest. And a group called the Answer Coalition plans an event with speakers and a hip hop group in Civic Center Park.
Kusmiss said the department's crowd control team has been used more in the past 21/2 months keeping anti-war demonstrators in line than it has in the past 17 years. The team was called out the day of the Feb. 12 City Council meeting when up to 2,000 people converged on Civic Center Park while the council debated whether to retract a statement telling the Marines they are unwelcome intruders in the city.
`snip
"We're going to have extra officers working in overtime capacity that day, much like the day of the protests during the big City Council meeting in February," Kusmiss said. "Not preparing or anticipating crowds would potentially be very problematic. (During recent protests), we have had vandalism and criminal behavior, which has an impact on business and traffic flow."
During the Feb. 12 City Council meeting, the department spent $93,000 on officer overtime. On Feb. 15 and Feb. 20, the department spent $20,000 each day in overtime controlling anti-war protesters downtown, said city spokeswoman Mary Kay Clunies-Ross.
~snip
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I truly wonder if there’s anyone there trying to raise a family who isn’t thinking about how good it would be to escape from that dump.
Put up two or three security cameras, give the recruiters the day off, provide the protesters beforehand with plenty of “beverages,” then hold all subsequent trials in berkeley at berkeley’s expense.
Brace for it?
Or march with the protestors?
Free beer, and no public toilets.
Communists are such a waste of skin. Especially, Berkeley Communists.
I doubt it. No American would be living in Berkeley without running the risk of being burned out.
Any families there are Leftists, raising good little Young Pioneers.
Where’s a nice cluster bomb when you need one?
They did pretty well during the last protest. Go check the photos and write-up at zombietime.com.
Three brands of communists on hand. How special!
What’s crazy is that my hubby & I were looking for a home in Berkeley for ourselves (and our baby on the way) several years ago. We were die-hard conservatives, but thought the location was good for our purposes. It seemed like most everyone there was a lesbian.
Thankfully, we didn’t purchase there, we moved instead (up to Seattle— not a whole lot better, but at least I could go to Mommy & Me classes, not Mommy & Mommy & Me). We would have gone completely crazy there.
I also hope the city bankrupts itself over this BS.
If someone even remotely like Ronald Reagan was governor, instead of the Governator, there'd be CA National Guard troops in the City of Saint Frances.
But instead of cracked heads, we'll likely get burning flags and bags of ... digestive byproducts thrown at the recruiters and anyone else daring to wear the uniform of the United States.
I would love to live in "fly over" country, and plan on doing so in the future.
Damn, I really wanted to reply to this thread, but you posted the most obvious comment.
Suggested role model, Chicago Police of ’68. Not tellin’ them how to do their jobs — just sayin’.
Yes, let’s squash their right to free speech just because we don’t agree with their message.
Living in Berkeley and not knowing the politics of its denizens would be like sitting in Obama’s pew for 20 years and not knowing what “Pastor” Wright was preaching. People live there by choice, the same way people continue to be member’s of Wright’s church.
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