Saw a program about the Zodiac serial killer in which the interviewed a retired SFPD detective.
He said “In 1967, you were supposed to come to San Francisco with flowers in your hair, but by 1969 you would have been wise to also be carrying a revolver.”
I think I saw the same program.
Veteran SF cop describing wide-eyed teenagers arriving on Greyhound busses from Iowa or Ohio. On the walk from the terminal to Haight-Ashbury the local thug population would rob them/rape them/pick them clean.
I was living 40 miles south in San Jose at the time and I didn't see it that way.
Anyhow...
"San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" (1967) is an American pop music song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie.[2] The song was produced and released in May 1967 by Phillips and Lou Adler, who used it to promote their Monterey International Pop Music Festival held in June of that year.[3] John Phillips played guitar on the recording and session musician Gary L. Coleman played orchestra bells and chimes. The bass line of the song was supplied by session musician Joe Osborn. Hal Blaine played drums. The song became one of the best-selling singles of the 1960s in the world, reaching the fourth position on the U.S. charts and the number one spot on the U.K. charts. "
Dirty Harry was based on this real life situation.
I live a little south of SF at the time and remember it well.