SF Mayor Proposes Sweeping Crime Crackdown
San Francisco Mayor Breed joined several other city leaders on Tuesday announced several proposed changes to address what she said are growing safety and health concerns happening in the city.
During a briefing at City Hall, Breed, joined by Police Chief Bill Scott and Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, announced a series of public safety initiatives to address both public drug use and illegal street vendors, as well as to increase funding and enforcement tools for law enforcement.
Read More: “A Safer San Francisco” by London Breed
“In recent months we’ve not only seen a number of high-profile incidents of brazen robberies and car break-ins, but also street behavior and criminal activity, especially in the Tenderloin that has become far too normal and cannot continue to be tolerated,” Breed said. “We’re not a city where anything goes. Our compassion should not be mistaken for weakness.
Under the first initiative, the Tenderloin Emergency Plan aims to address immediate issues in the area through both emergency and health services.
Tenderloin Emergency Plan
The basic priorities
- Preventing violent crime;
- Streamlining emergency medical calls;
- Interrupting open air-drug dealing;
- Interrupting open-air substance abuse;
- Establishing safe passage and accessibility for citizens;
- Expanding housing resources;
- Interrupting illegal vending;
- Improving neighborhood cleanliness;
“Our priorities are focused on issues of drug dealing, violent crime, public drug use, safe passage and accessibility for the people who live and work there, neighborhood cleanliness, housing resources, emergency medical calls, and targeting illegal street vendors,” Breed said.
Breed also said the plan will include increased law enforcement in the area and allow them to conduct felony warrant sweeps.
“These are some of the people who are holding this neighborhood hostage and our criminal justice system has a responsibility to hold them accountable. When police make an arrest, the residents of the Tenderloin should not see that same person back on the streets the next day, dealing drugs,” Breed said.
We need to change course on how we handle public safety in San Francisco. We can’t be a place where anything goes on the street.
Today, I am announcing a series of new steps to address public safety in our city. https://t.co/njI6JUOhmi
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) December 14, 2021
The first part of the Tenderloin Emergency Plan will roll out next month, according to Breed. Then the following month, the second stage will focus not only on law enforcement, but also on connecting people who use drugs with services.
“We are not going to just walk by and let someone use (drugs) in broad daylight on the streets, and not give them a choice between going to a location we have identified for them or going to jail. This will involve social workers, outreach workers, police, and community groups working together to offer wrap around service and connections to a new temporary linkage site where people can start treatment,” she said.
Another aspect of the plan will focus on finding funding for community ambassador programs and community beautification projects, among other efforts, according to Breed.
“The key will be to never let the Tenderloin go back to what we are seeing today,” she said.
In addition to the Tenderloin plan, Breed also announced she’s cracking down on illegal street vendors who sell stolen items by introducing legislation to create an exclusion zone that would prohibit unauthorized vendors in hot spots like United Nations Plaza. The legislation would require vendors to clearly display their city permits and show proof of purchase of their merchandise to city inspectors when asked.
The legislation would also allow for authorities to confiscate merchandise suspected of being stolen, according to Breed.
The third change Breed is proposing is amending a 2019 ordinance approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that limited police use of certain surveillance cameras throughout the city.
“When there were multiple robbery crews hitting multiple stores, they (police) couldn’t even access those cameras which is ridiculous,” she said. “We need amendments to clarify that officers can access these cameras when needed to address critical public safety issues.”
The fourth and last change Breed is proposing is to increase funding specifically to increase overtime, hiring and training for law enforcement. Breed is planning on introducing a supplemental budget proposal to the Board of Supervisors.
“When you are in a room full of people, I would say between 90 and 95 percent of folks could raise their hand and say that either their car has been broken into, or they’ve been a victim in some capacity or another. That is not acceptable. It is time to that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end,” Breed said. “It comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies, and less tolerant off all the bulls— that has destroyed our city.”
“Being compassionate does not mean we have to turn a blind eye to what’s happening on the streets,” said Scott. “At the end of all of this, people will not be allowed to smoke meth, to smoke fentanyl, to inject heroin in their arms in public spaces. It’s very important that we are consistent and we sustain this effort.”
“The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office is prepared to contribute to the solution and provide services and support necessary to make sure our collective efforts are not just a flash in the pan, are not just a temporary solution, but something that is long and sustainable,” Miyamoto said.
The mayor’s proposed changes comes just weeks after multiple smash-and-grab robberies occurred in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area within days, including a brazen robbery at the Louis Vuitton store in Union Square that involved possibly up to 40 people.
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