SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Police are cracking down on street performers in San Francisco’s Union Square thanks to complaints by hotel guests.
One performer, Harold Wilson, has been playing on a street corner in Union Square two nights a week for the past three years.
“We play rhythm and blues, soul, funk, traditional jazz and a little opera,” Wilson said.
But lately, he and other street musicians say police have been harassing them and have even taken away their instruments.
“They took drum sets and they took in errors from me, they took other people amplifiers and guitars,” according to Wilson.
Police told Wilson the complaints are coming from hotel guests in the area.
“They say they get complaints but we never see where the complaints are coming from,” Wilson said.
Wilson says he still hasn’t gotten back his instruments.
Deidre Frazier comes out to watch at least 3 times a week and says hotel guests who complain should stay somewhere else.
“I am, a huge fan, I have been watching them for a year and a half,” Frazier said. “That’s part of renting a room in Union Square. There’s other parts of town if you need it to be. And they stop at 10 p.m. That’s a reasonable time.”