Centennial Park — Attraction in Bakersfield

Homeless people and drug addicts frequent this park regularly so stay safe and never go to this park. This was my experience: I finally decided to try take my dogs to the leash free zone of Centennial park on Stockdale & Monclaire street. As soon as I got to the gate two elderly Animal Control Officers (one bald man and one woman) rapidly drove right up to the entrance and started asking me questions about my dogs and whether or not they are licensed. I was about to eat a hot lunch with someone else and wanted to eat in peace. After I provided proof my dogs are legal they continued talking to my friend and I knew the food was getting cold so I interrupted them and told them to move on. The man got extremely upset and walked over to the bench where I was sitting and got about 2 feet from where I was sitting and started aggressively staring down in my face and accusing me of being all sorts of names such as mentally ill, with "serious problems" etc. I felt extremely uncomfortable by this strange old man berating me at the park while my food was getting colder and colder and I stood up and asked him why he is harassing me and to just leave me alone because I proved I have the right to take my dogs to the park. He then got even more aggressive and hostile and threatened to call the cops and take me to JAIL! I told him he was the hostile one and I should be the one calling the police and the woman officer (whom appeared to be his partner/spouse) started grabbing him and trying to coerce him away from me and back in the car (which was an unmarked car and likely illegal BTW). He reluctantly obeyed her partners demands and left. While I was at the park I saw three dangerous looking homeless people (one of them was wondering around near the entrance of the dog park gate talking to himself) and 3 people doing drugs 30 yards from the entrance of the dog park gate. I felt disrespected, harassed, berated and unsafe and it was a HORRIBLE experience, especially when the authorities are focused on me and my legally licensed dogs while ignoring the real problems that were going on at the park right in front of them. Stay safe, be smart and...

I have family in the neighborhood and I grew up coming to this park with my siblings and cousins as kids. Families still come to the parkland enjoy themselves. There are more homeless people but doing the day it's quiet or a group of people with kids will come for a few hours. I see sweethearts in the park on their lunch breaks. In the evening a group of guys come and play basketball and I often seen teenagers practicing dance moves for their dance clubs. I have never seen anyone get into fights or cause problems. I always hear laughter, music and dogs barking. Picnic areas are big and not dirty, the park is dog friendly and the dog owners are mindful of their dogs. The playground is...

I tried to walk in Centennial Park and Lease three to four days a week me and my brother and I want to talk at least 6 or 7 times a day but if my brother was not with me I could not walk there's a lot of homeless people in the park and the maintenance and grass people come to clean up but it's also a dog park and they don't clean it up very well poop sits there almost a week before you see it gone and they just cleaned the park up so if it's a dog park and the people do not clean up their own poop it's up to the maintenance groundskeeper or whoever to get it up and not have the Walkers...