San Francisco Mayor Requests Federal Funds to Fight Crime, Open Air Drug Dens

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has requested federal aid to help combat violent crime and open-air drug dens, recognizing that her city is dealing with serious public safety challenges stemming from an unprecedented police staffing shortage, according to a letter she sent to California’s new U.S. attorney, Ismail J. Ramsey.

Mayor Breed expressed her concerns about various public safety challenges, including a fentanyl-driven overdose epidemic, increasing gun violence, property crime, and racially motivated incidents. In her letter, she mentioned that the city’s local law enforcement is doing its best to enforce against drug dealing, but the scale of the problem is beyond its capacity. To arrest and prosecute drug dealers, the Department of Justice’s additional and ongoing support is required, the letter continues.

She said, “In particular, I am most alarmed by the sheer volume of drug dealing on our streets. These drug dealers have become increasingly aggressive with both our public safety personnel and with members of the community. Violence and shootings surround these brazen open-air drug dealing scenes. Sadly, this means that the people who live and work in these areas, including employees of various federal buildings and around the Tenderloin, are forced to endure unsafet and unhealthy conditions.”

The U.S. attorney’s office spokesman, Abraham Simmons, confirmed that they had received Mayor Breed’s letter and would arrange to meet with her to discuss the concerns.

Mayor Breed’s request for assistance from the federal government is somewhat ironic given that she initially pledged to defund the police as a response to the nationwide Black Lives Matter riots in 2020. As part of her plan, Breed cut $120 million from the budgets of both San Francisco’s police and sheriff’s departments, which could impact their ability to respond to emergencies. She later reversed the decision as levels of crime surged.

Despite San Francisco being home to Silicon Valley and many of the wealthiest people in the world, the city has become renowned for its high prices, rampant drug use, and lawlessness, making it an increasingly unattractive place to live. The city is also the most progressive city in the country, primarily governed by left-wing Democrats.

The Hoover Institute, in a report published in 2020, explains the trend of the city being almost entirely governed by left-wing Democrats:

Progressive Democrats have dominated San Francisco’s city government for the last 20 years, a time during which homelessness, drug abuse, the cost of living, and the city budget have skyrocketed.

As a succession of city governments have tacitly tolerated drug abuse and the crimes that go with that, a de facto thriving drug-based economy tragically plays out in the open on city streets every day. The city spends a small fortune each year collecting millions of used hypodermic needles from city streets and pays city workers about $185,000 annually to clean up feces from the sidewalks.

The city has also created proposals for reparations for African-American residents, where every black resident of the city would be given $5 million in reparations, which would inevitably bankrupt the city. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in March to move forward with the plan, which is a recent development.