Thousands expected to attend Pokemon Go crawl in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco police are preparing for massive crowds Wednesday afternoon because of a scheduled Pokemon Go meet-up event.

RELATED: What is Pokemon Go?

More than 8,000 people say they're attending and it's scheduled right in the middle of the evening commute. "Well I hope there's enough in the wild for everyone to be satisfied catching them," San Francisco resident Leslie Chin said.

The event could mean problems though, with that many people converging on Dolores Park and the Embarcadero, which are the two starting points for the crawl. "This is a good opportunity for a criminal," San Francisco Police Department Ofc. Carlos Manfredi said.

RELATED: Pokemon Go a game-changer for child with autism disorder

Manfredi is warning gamers. "By the time they grab the items and you call 911 they're long gone. So you have to be cautious, you have to look up," he said.

The department is adding officers to the streets, and treating the Pokemon Go crawl like the annual Santa Con. "I find it irritating to be honest," San Francisco resident Kelley Malbetch said.

RELATED: Crash serves as warning about playing Pokemon Go

Since the crawl starts at 6 p.m., the added pedestrians may pose a problem. "I think it's great they're getting out, it's fun, but I have to keep telling them 'you guys this is all happening on your phone, they're not actually in the parking lot," Chin said.

The Pokemon Go meet-up event will end with a pub crawl in the Mission District and many businesses are getting on board by offering special Pokemon Go deals.

Click here for more stories and videos about Pokemon.