My fellow San Franciscans,
San Francisco has been taking on the open-air drug dealing in our City. And we are taking aggressive steps to address the fentanyl crisis with both services for those struggling with addiction as well as enforcement to break up open-air drug dealing and hold those who are threatening lives accountable.
Just in the first quarter of this year, arrests for street level drug dealing in the Tenderloin Area doubled over the same period from last year.
We now have a strong relationship between our Police Chief and our DA. And with that partnership, we are all pushing as hard as we can for our residents especially residents in the Tenderloin.
We have used overtime to deploy more officers to get out in the Tenderloin and surrounding areas to increase drug arrests. Our Police Officers have been making arrests and our District Attorney has been aggressive in prosecuting cases against drug dealers who are selling a drug that is driving fatal overdoses in our City.
We are sending a message that people are held accountable.
What is why we are grateful for the partnership with Governor Gavin Newsom and the State law enforcement agencies to help us continue that work and expand our efforts, and for listening to our residents, workers, and businesses that have been calling for more support. We welcome this support for more enforcement.
San Francisco\u30fbs Work to Address the Fentanyl Crisis:
80% of the overdose deaths so far this year in San Francisco are fentanyl-related, which is why San Francisco has prioritized enforcement of fentanyl dealers, particularly in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.
Since January, SFPD has made more than 300 arrests for possession with intent to sell in the Tenderloin and South of Market areas.
The amount of fentanyl seized in the first quarter of 2023 increased by over 150% year over year in 2022.
Compared to the same period in 2021, the City has seen an increase of the amount of fentanyl seized by over 450% this year so far.
The District Attorney\u30fbs Office has prioritized the prosecution of high-level dealers and are working closely with SFPD to file narcotics sales cases.
Between July 2022 and April 2023, the District Attorney\u30fbs Office filed 638 felony narcotics sales cases, which is a 90% filing rate.
517 individuals were arraigned between July 8, 2022 and April 20, 2023 for felony narcotics, representing an 80% increase compared to the same time period by the previous administration.
San Francisco also continues to prioritize treatment and services for those struggling with addiction. This includes the San Francisco Department of Public Health\u30fbs (SFDPH) work to implement the City\u30fbs Overdose Prevention Plan, a four-part strategy to bring down overdoses, by expanding access to substance use treatment and services, doubling the distribution of naloxone in the next three years, increasing social support for people at risk of overdose, and improving the conditions in communities where drug use occurs. Examples of this work include:
Over the past two years, SFDPH has opened almost 350 residential care and treatment beds, in addition to the existing 2,200 beds.
This includes the recent opening of a 70-bed residential step-down facility in Treasure Island for people transitioning out of treatment programs.
SFDPH has also been widely increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder, namely buprenorphine and methadone.
Our local enforcement agencies are committed to this work and we will continue to be aggressive in disrupting the open-air drug markets in our City.
Please add me on WeChat for updates and resources: londonbreed.
Sincerely,
London N. Breed
Mayor
