San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday declared a state of emergency in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood, aiming to combat a rise in crime, drug use and homelessness there, days after she called for an increase in funding for police overtime to flood the area with officers.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a press conference at San Francisco City Hall. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a shelter in place for residents. The order will allow people to leave their homes to do essential tasks. The photo was taken by Justin Sullivan.
The images are from the same company.
The city can suspend laws to create a linkage site that will offer shelter and mental health services to people suffering from addiction.
26% of the people who died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last year were from the Tenderloin.
The city has seen 592 deaths this year as a result of accidental drug overdoses, according to the chief medical examiner.
Nancy Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, called the increase in theft "outrageous" on Wednesday.
In the past year, there have been decreases in certain crimes such as robbery, rape and burgary in San Francisco, but theft, homicide and assault have all increased.
Breed said at the news conference that the city was in a crisis. There are too many people dying in this city.
The key background.
San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of a building in the Tenderloin to house a supervised drug use center. The facility would allow users to take drugs under the watch of medical professionals, who will provide clean needles and mental health assistance. As overdose deaths continue to rise, more local governments have explored the concept of illegal sites. Rhode Island became the first state to allow harm reduction centers when it passed a law last year. New York City opened two supervised drug sites last month, the first in the country, in East Harlem and Washington Heights.
592 people have died from accidental drug overdoses, compared to 421 people who have died from Covid-19.
