SF DA Chesa Boudin Announces Opposition to Mayor London Breed’s Tenderloin Crime Crackdown Plan
Boudin, other city leaders favor evidence-based alternatives
By Evan Symon, December 21, 2021 2:25 am
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced Monday that he was opposed to Mayor London Breed’s crime crackdown plan in the Tenderloin neighborhood, saying that the city should focus efforts elsewhere to keep residents safe and give help to those that need it.
While the Tenderloin has been one of the most prominent high crime areas in San Francisco for decades, the recent crime wave to hit the city has only worsened in the district. High numbers of robberies, violent crimes, and drug use have been recorded in the Tenderloin, with many locals in the district pleading for help. One of the most recent SFPD busts in the neighborhood, made in response to the recent string of smash and grab ‘flashmob’ robberies, had police bring in 950 grams of drugs (600 of which were fentanyl), over $3,400 in drug money, numerous weapons, and the arrest of 17 dealers in only a few days time.
In response to the worsening situation, Mayor Breed announced a police crackdown on the crime surge there, including more police in the neighborhood, getting more police funding for the area, amending the surveillance ordinance to bring back police cameras to high-crime areas, and disrupting the sale of stolen goods, especially those from retail stores. In addition, non-criminals would also be receiving additional help, with more social workers and public toilets being brought there.
“It’s time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it come to an end,” said Mayor Breed last week. “And it comes to an end when we take the steps to more aggressive with law enforcement. More aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerate of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city.”
While criticized the plan, such as those saying that she was only solving a problem that she had helped create and that criminals would only move over to other areas of the city as a result, the plan was generally received positively.
“A lot of people here see it as Breed trying to fix her own mistake,” said Frank Ma, a former law enforcement official who now works as a security advisor for businesses in San Francisco, to the Globe on Monday. “But she is doing something about it at least. And with police and law and order rather than those alternatives that have been all but useless in the city for the past few years.”
Opposition to the Mayor’s Plan
However, DA Boudin, who faces a recall election next year, as well as Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton and Public Defender Mano Raju gave a press conference on Monday in opposition to the Mayor’s crackdown.
All three noted that arrests and prosecutions would not get rid of the problems in the district and that evidence based alternatives, such as those focusing on things like housing, treatment, and general help, would work far more effectively.
“I’m outraged at the human suffering, flagrant violations of laws and safety concerns for families in the Tenderloin,” Boudin said on Monday. “We can’t arrest and prosecute our way out of problems that are afflicting the Tenderloin. Arresting people who are addicted to drugs, jailing people who have mental health struggles, putting folks who are vending hot dogs or other food on the streets in cages will not solve these problems, and they are certainly not the only tools available.”
“Right now in San Francisco it’s easier to get high than it is to get help. That has to change. I will do everything in my power to make the Tenderloin safe for all of San Francisco. I also plan to continue to demand in partnership with all these other elected leaders, that we do what we know will work, and stop dumping resources into failed strategies.”
“The last thing we need is to clog up every available court with a misdemeanor possession of a pipe charge. Those cases will make it impossible to secure justice or closure in violent crimes.”
While many in the city remain opposed to arresting drug users and are more in favor of rehab, other Tenderloin residents have also agreed that more policing is needed.
“What the city has been doing is not working,” explained Tenderloin resident Garvey Harrison, a former drug user who now sponsors multiple Narcotics Anonymous members in the city, to the Globe on Monday. “Arresting drug users gets us nowhere. They need support and rehab to get better. That worked for me, and I try and pay that back by helping others with the similar addictions.”
“But what we really need are more police here. More arrests of people polluting the district with drugs. And police being around more to keep the crime in check. We need them to respond when we call for help.”
“And what the Mayor wants to do, a mix of more policing and more social help, would be a lot better for the district. Not perfect, but better. Boudin, I don’t know the man, but he should move to the district and we can see how long it takes before he changes his tune on fewer police and arresting people. A lot of us regret voting for him.”
Breed’s crackdown plan is currently being implemented in the district.
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Thank God for Chesa Boudin! America looks to San Francisco and California to be a beacon on the hill of Democrat failure. America learns by observing the toilet on the Bay. What the heck is Mayor Breed doing by enacting sensible policies? The one bright spot during this 2-year scamdemic and 1 year of Biden has been watching the Democrats screw everything up like a soup sandwhich. Why is Mayor Breed trying to take this away from me?
-Sad Plumber
Example #347,923 of why most of what’s wrong with California originates from the bay area. Why would any sane person think that the son of two convicted domestic terrorists, who was raised by his domestic terrorist godparents, would do anything to protect citizens? “Don’t increase police patrols. It might hurt the feelings of bad guys. Not that their bad guys, they’re just misunderstood, like my friend Hugo Chavez.”
Cops are subhuman animals that kill and torture people for fun. If you support their presence, then I will go out of my way to find your IP and send my east European mob buddies to kill you
Don’t you just love it when the libs eat their own???
What a sh_t show San Franfreakshow is….