[ Golden Gater Online - November 13, 1997 ]
Justin Grams
Staff writer
Last week, Mayor Willie Brown said he would attempt to arrange police helicopter flights over Golden Gate Park to spot illegal encampments of homeless who are starting fires, dealing drugs and are possibly involved in recent slayings.
I think it's a wonderful idea.
In 1983, a film titled "Blue Thunder" was released. The film's poster read, "He's out there... flying the most lethal weapon ever made...the Blue Thunder Special... but he's not headed for some war-torn country... He'll be cruising the skies of America."
"Blue Thunder" is about an experimental attack helicopter built for the Los Angeles Police Department to use for surveillance and crowd control. It's got all kinds of gizmos ranging from sensitive microphones to infrared cameras to 30mm cannons.
Brown's plan is to send helicopters over the park on nightly assignments to "spot" camps and illegal homeless activity and then send in armies of police on foot to clear it out. I know, it sounds like a bad action film, but it the high-tech ridiculousness of it, all must be seen to believe.
If you live in the Richmond District, imagine the chopper's spotlights bursting through your blinds at 4 a.m. as beat-up Cadillacs burst out of the park's bushes and screech down Fulton or Lincoln streets. Just picture the opening shot of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now," when the Doors' "The End" plays over an image of a stretch of jungle igniting in flames as choppers fly by in succinct harmony. It just might be a future analogy for Golden Gate Park!
Wait until ski-masked paratroopers land in the park clutching machine guns with infrared scopes, totally trigger happy and ready to boot out some homeless.
It could all happen if Brown's helicopter "fly-by" plan gets a thumbs up from citizens and bureaucrats alike. Homeless advocates say helicopter missions and foot soldiers storming the park like they're on P.O.W. rescue missions aren't the solution. "Where are the homeless supposed to go?" they say.
Well, Brown's plan isn't to heard up homeless like buffalo and ship them to Treasure Island. It's to rid the park of all the psychotic slime and scum, who lurk in the bushes and stick needles in their arms, then drop the needles on the trails for little kids to fall of their bikes and prick themselves on later.
The plan is to weed out camp grounds of homeless who start fires, deal drugs and rob people. The helicopter flights can help spot illegal activity and get it out of the park by dealing with the criminals.
I think the "Blue Thunder" approach will work, and the thought of police choppers cruising alongside one another across the bay is both frightening and absurd. It will take more than a couple of police officers on horseback to get into the depths of the park and arrest criminals. It takes an idea borrowed from a 1983 film starring Roy Scheider.
I know the entire thing sounds slightly ridiculous and immoral. But hell, it sure looked great on camera when I was 8 years old.
[ Golden Gater - November 13, 1997 ]