Q&A with BPD
The Weird and Wonderful World of Policing Berkeley
PIO Sgt. Mary C. Kusmiss explains the stranger side of being a police officer in Berkeley, including the mystery of shoes hanging from telephone wires and the oddest calls for service.
Q: There are often shoes hanging over telephone wires in Berkeley. Does it mean anything? Answer by Sgt. Mary C. Kusmiss S-6 BPD Public Information Officer. A: Over the years, the numbers of pairs of shoes — in particular athletic or running shoes — that are hanging over wires above the streets has varied. Depending on what town, city, neighborhood, state and even country you live in, there are a litany of reasons that young and older people alike have engaged in this practice. One explanation that is often rumored is that hanging shoes is a way in which a gang or a drug dealer signals territory. Members of BPD have never been able to fully verify that all the dangling pairs of shoes in Berkeley have such significance, although …
