San Francisco mayor reverses push to defund police amid surge in crime

Amber CoakleyDecember 16, 2021

FILE – San Francisco Mayor London Breed listens during a briefing outside City Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 1, 2021. A fed-up Breed announced Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, San Francisco will dramatically crack down on open drug use and sales and illegal vending of stolen goods that’s fueled smash and grab robberies. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:49 PM PT – Thursday, December 16, 2021

San Francisco, California Mayor London Breed reversed her push to defund the police following a surge in crime in the Democrat-run city.

During a press conference Tuesday, Breed called for more aggressive policing despite reportedly cutting $120 million from San Francisco’s police and sheriffs departments budget.

This comes as the city has seen an uptick in crime, including several smash and grab robberies, a substantial increase in car break-in and spike in auto burglaries.

“Our officers are committed to doing their work and are committed to keeping us safe, but everything they’ve been doing over the recent months and everything we’re going to ask of them in the coming months before we pass a new budget is going to require more overtime funding and it’s going to require more police officers,” Breed explained.

We need to change course on how we handle public safety in San Francisco. We can’t be a place where anything goes on the street.

Today, I am announcing a series of new steps to address public safety in our city. https://t.co/njI6JUOhmi

— London Breed (@LondonBreed) December 14, 2021

Meanwhile, the San Francisco mayor has proposed legislation to allow law enforcement officers to access real-time surveillance video in certain situations as well as measures that would make it harder to sell stolen goods. She’s expected to introduce those initiatives to county supervisors in January.