Pedestrians walk along the edge of the sidewalk to avoid tents and sleeping bags, on April 13, 2020, in the loin area of San Francisco.
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Margot/AP Wharf
Pedestrians walk along the edge of the sidewalk to avoid tents and sleeping bags, on April 13, 2020, in the loin area of San Francisco.
Margot/AP Wharf
California Governor Gavin Newsom is directing the California Highway Patrol and the National Guard to assist the San Francisco government in combating the fentanyl crisis in the city.
The two agencies will work with the local police department and the district attorney’s office to try to stop the deadly synthetic drug trade.
“Two truths can coexist: San Francisco’s violent crime rate is lower than comparable cities like Jacksonville and Fort Worth — and we have much more to do to address it. public safety concerns, particularly the fentanyl crisis,” Newsom said in a statement Press Release on Friday.
The four agencies are expected to “suppress” fentanyl-related crimes and increase the presence of law enforcement in public areas. However, Newsom’s office stated that the operation would not target drug addicts and would instead focus on drug suppliers and dealers.
CHP will assist local police with drug trafficking enforcement in key areas of the city, including the Tenderloin district, where Mayor London Breed announced state of emergency in December 2021 on crime and drug overdose.
Meanwhile, the California National Guard will assist in the analysis of drug operations, with a particular focus on fentanyl trafficking rings.
Newsom’s announcement did not include details about the number of personnel involved, funding, and what enforcement would look like. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.
The multi-agency effort comes as San Francisco grapples with an alarming rise in the number of deaths linked to fentanyl, a drug known to be more potent and Deadly than heroin.
In 2021, 474 people die from a fentanyl-related overdose in the city. Between January and March of this year, 200 people died from accidental drug overdoses, with the majority of deaths related to synthetic opioids, the Commission reports. San Francisco Chronicles.
Matt Dorsey, supervisor of San Francisco, thanked Newsom for Twitter for providing the city with “the much-needed state resources to disrupt, dismantle, and stop the blatantly open drug markets.”
State Senator Scott Wiener said he also welcomed the coordinated effort, but also noted that the governor veto its legislation to create a pilot program for safe consumption locations in the city, San Francisco Standard report.
