I have been hearing from several folks that the SFPD street patrol division was out in full force Saturday at the Gay Pride Festival, ticketing cars parking around Terrace Park, mostly for parking to close to the intersection. One person told me he even questioned the ticket of the officer (who claimed he was parked less then 20 feet from the intersection), after the officer left a neighbor came out and measured, their car was parked 25 feet from the intersection.
So why the flurry of tickets at a festival that got a lot of publicity before the event on Saturday? Dare I say there was some veiled discrimination going on by the officers? How convenient to show up to a very popular event (The Mayor even spoke at it) and hand out parking tickets knowing many people will be in violation because there really isn’t any place to park around Terrace Park except on the street.
I often scratch my head when city officials say they need more officers, but all they have better to do on a Saturday afternoon is hand out parking tickets. Nice way to show the police force’s diversity tolerance by handing out tickets at a Pride Festival. Everything has a cost it seems in Sioux Falls anymore.