The weather is beautiful on the West side of SF, inspiring folks to head out to Ocean Beach to lounge around and get barked at by my very bad dogs. But some of those beachgoers might end up paying big time for that trip, as some are saying a crackdown on alcohol use on the beach is leaving these fungoers with hefty tickets, or worse.
For example, a reader sent in this picture of two US Park Police saying that he observed two different groups of people getting ticketed for booze offenses yesterday. According to the National Parks Service, the possession and/or consumption of alcohol is not allowed on Ocean Beach, including the walkway that runs up to the Cliff House.
But I’ve drank on the beach tons of times! You’re saying, right? Yeah, us too. But it looks like the Park cops are cracking down, if our reader’s account is any indication.
We’ve placed numerous calls to the US Park Police to see if we can confirm any stepped up enforcement, as well as to get a better idea of the fine structure for Ocean Beach alcohol offenses, but haven’t been able to get a call back from them.
When we do, we’ll be sure to update — but until then, hooky players/funemployees, if you’re headed to Ocean Beach, best to forgo the liquor.
Update: US Park Police spokesperson Sgt. Thomas Hart didn’t have any info on any booze enforcement specifics, but referred us to someone who might, as well as to someone with more info on how much a ticket for a booze offense might be. We’re following up on that now, more soon on those fronts.
However, he did offer a response to Xenu’s comment wondering if the Park PD stopped patrolling after 10 PM, saying “the US Park Police is a 24-7 operation like any police force, and the Ocean Beach area is always manned and patrolled.” So keep your bottle at home, Xenu!
