By Steve Sailer
12/19/2021
From the San Francisco Examiner:
Breed declares state of emergency to clean up the Tenderloinâs ânasty streetsâ
Action allows city to cut through red tape and increase police fundingDecember 17, 2021 1:30 am â Updated December 17, 2021 3:57 pm
By Examiner staff and wire reports
The mayor on Friday declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin.
The neighborhood, just steps from City Hall, has been ground zero for drug dealing, overdose deaths and homelessness for years.
In what many observers said was a sharp turnaround in both tone and policy, Mayor London Breed this week said she would pursue an âaggressiveâ crackdown on the ânasty streetsâ of her city. Itâs a highly unusual move by a liberal mayor in one of the countryâs most liberal cities.
âWe are in a crisis and we need to respond accordingly,â she said at a news conference Friday. âToo many people are dying in this city, too many people are sprawled on our streets,â she said, referring to residents who have overdosed.
She said declaring a state of emergency would allow The City to cut through red tape and increase funding to police, who she said already had arrested 23 people during felony warrant sweeps.
The announcement specifically targeted The Cityâs drug overdose crisis. Twice as many people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last year as died from the coronavirus. But the announcement is part of a broader, aggressive push to crack down on drug dealing and improve conditions of The Cityâs streets.
âWe are losing over two people a day to drug overdoses, mostly to fentanyl, and mostly in the Tenderloin and SoMa,â said Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district includes the Tenderloin.
Michael Shellenberger, author of San Fransicko, takes a victory lap: