Thursday 4 August 2022 02:55 AM New San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins cracks down on drug dealers as she vows to ... trends now
San Francisco's new district attorney blasted her woke predecessor for not prosecuting a single fentanyl dealer during his reign, despite the city's drug crisis.
Brooke Jenkins, the city's interim DA, announced a new policy on Wednesday that intends to hold drug dealers accountable for their crimes.
She said the city's dealers 'abused' former DA Chesa Boudin's lenient policies and reaffirmed her commitment to changing the way the city is handling drug cases.
Jenkins, 40, assured the city she was 'committed to ending open-air drug markets' and making 'changes now to save lives.'
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom is set to decide on a new bill that would allow for more open-air drug sites across the state, despite the disastrous pilot attempt in San Francisco that Jenkins has vowed to shutdown.
San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins, 40, on Wednesday (pictured) blasted her woke predecessor for not prosecuting a single fentanyl dealer during his reign, despite the city's drug crisis
'I promised the public immediately after my appointment that I was going to make a change with respect to the way we were handling drug dealing cases,' Jenkins said during a press conference Wednesday. 'That I was committed to ending open air drug markets and doing everything in my power to do so.
'For the past year or more, the previous administration did not obtain a single fentanyl sales conviction, despite what was happening on our streets.
'I repeat not one single conviction for the sale of fentanyl despite, as I said, 1,500 overdoses deaths since 2020.'
Jenkins demanded city leaders no longer 'standby while people continue to die on our streets' and unveiled a new plan that she claims will make a 'difference out on the street that we can all see and feel.'
Her plan, which was unveiled Wednesday, had three major components.
It prohibits drug dealers arrested with more than five grams of fentanyl or other controlled substances from being referred to the Community Justice Court - which she claims was 'abused' under Boudin.
The plan has resumed charge enhancements - or extra penalties - for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.
And the district attorney's office will now potentially seek pre-trial detention - being held in jail while awaiting trial - for repeat offenders and in extreme cases of fentanyl dealing.
She said the city's dealers 'abused' former DA Chesa Boudin's (pictured June 7) lenient policies and reaffirmed her commitment to changing the way the city is handling drug cases
Jenkins on Wednesday also pulled back over 30 plea offers from the previous administration that she deemed were too lenient.
Most of the revoked offers involved dealers selling 'egregious amounts' of fentanyl and people who had numerous open cases for dealing the drug.
'On my watch, the DA’s office is going to take these cases seriously,' Jenkins said. 'We are dealing with a public health crisis with regards to fentanyl, and no longer are we going to be giving a free pass to people who sell that drug in San Francisco.'
'These changes are going to make a difference out on the street and one that we can all see and feel. We cannot stand by while these neighborhoods continue to suffer with violence and drug dealing happening openly on their streets.
'We also cannot continue to standby while people continue to die on our streets. We have to make changes now to save lives.'
Jenkins assured the city she was 'committed to ending open-air drug markets' and making 'changes now to save lives.' A drug user is seen injecting at the Tenderloin Linkage Center in San Francisco on January 23, 2022
Jenkins unveiled a new plan Wednesday that prohibits drug dealers arrested with more than five grams of fentanyl or other controlled substances from being referred to the Community Justice Court. A dealer is picture in the Tenderloin community on Tuesday
The plan has resumed charge enhancements for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. And the district attorney's office will now potentially seek pre-trial detention for repeat offenders and in extreme cases of fentanyl dealing. A drug user is pictured on the streets surrounding the Tenderloin linkage center in January 2022
Jenkins' plan is starkly different from that of her predecessor. Under Boudin, not a single person was convicted for selling illegal fentanyl.
The arrested dealers did not go to jail but were referred to Community Justice Court, a progressive alternative to traditional criminal justice.
Offenders, who rarely use the substances they sell, were routinely sent to drug treatment counseling and back out on the street dealing again within hours of arrest.
'This ends now,' Jenkins said, adding how she is adamant about forcing real change in the beleaguered city.
'It's about ensuring we are not cycling some of the most dangerous offenders back out there onto the streets without disrupting their business practice of selling lethal drugs to one of the most vulnerable communities that we have here in San Francisco: those who are struggling with substance abuse,' she said.
'We have to send a strong message that if people choose to sell this legal drug in our city that they will be held accountable.'
Jenkins was appointed to the post of DA last month by Mayor London Breed following the recall of Boudin.
The city's resident voted Boudin out of office during a recall election held in
