Thursday 6 October 2022 11:25 AM Woke San Fran Mayor AGAIN pledges to crack down on public drug taking this time ... trends now
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has signaled a U-turn in her approach to the city's rampant drug taking when pledging once again to crackdown on the problem - this time by turning to the police.
Under Breed's 'soft touch' policies that have included open-air drug markets where people can shoot up 'without anyone going to jail', San Francisco has seen a surge in open-air drugtaking, with nearly 1,700 fatal overdoses since the start of 2020.
This time, Breed was joined by the top brass of San Francisco law enforcement as she again promised to get tough on drug dealing and 'unacceptable' public drug use at a Wednesday press conference at San Francisco police headquarters.
On the podium next to her was Police Chief William Scott and Breed-appointees District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and District Six Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who are both fighting to keep their seats in upcoming November elections.
Breed appointed Jenkins after the previous district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was recalled in June for 'not being tough enough on drug dealers', and she appointed former police spokesperson Dorsey in May.
The officials were keen to emphasize an uptick in drug seizures in the long-suffering Tenderloin neighborhood, and drug arrests and felony narcotics charges across the city in the three months since Jenkins took charge.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has once again declared she will crackdown on the city's rampant drug crisis
Breed's new approach involves working much closer with the police department (pictured: Police Chief William Scott) and the DA's office (pictured: District Attorney Brooke Jenkins) to enforce tougher policies on drug dealers and drug users
A homeless man injects fentanyl into his friend's armpit, due to a lack of usable veins, as people walk by near City Hall on Saturday
Drug-related incidents have been rampant in San Francisco in recent years, save for a predictable dip during the Coronavirus pandemic, with much of it blamed on old DA Chesa Boudin, who was recalled in June. The spike in July 2022 has been attributed to a federal grant the police department got to tackle drug crime in the Tenderloin neighborhood
She also mentioned how the city's drug epidemic has touched her personally, as her younger sister died of a drug overdose at the age of 25.
Breed had made a made a strident speech last December declaring an official state of emergency in the Tenderloin and promising to crackdown on the 'bulls*** destroying the city.'
But the intervening ten months have seen policies brought in which have included trialing the infamous taxpayer-funded 'open-air drug markets', which were shuttered in June.
Other soft-touch policies have included electronically-tagging users and having police officers track them down and confiscate their drugs if they wander into known drug-dealing areas.
When she was asked what would be different under the new policies compared to last December, Breed pointed to an increase in enforcement, including boosting the police budget and hiring a further 200 officers.
She also said that the city has expanded the number of treatment beds by hundreds on top of the 2,200 already available, and highlighted expanded alternative response teams and safety ambassadors.
The mayor and law enforcement also promised to come down harder on not just drug dealers but also drug users who refuse to accept public services to help them. The criminal justice system will also provide treatment options, they added.
A homeless woman smokes crack with two others in the Tenderloin on Friday
A homeless woman smokes crack in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco
