San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants help from the federal government to stop the ongoing drug crisis in the city. This is happening because the city’s police department doesn’t have enough people to do its job.
The San Francisco mayor says that the city needs help to stop the daily drug dealing in the streets. She just sent a letter to Ismail Ramsey, the new U.S. Attorney for Northern California, saying that the city can’t do anything about the problem.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 16: San Francisco Mayor London Breed (L) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (R) looks on at San Francisco City Hall on March 16, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a shelter in place order for residents in San Francisco until April 7. The order will allow people to leave their homes to do essential tasks such as grocery shopping and pet walking. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
San Francisco Mayor Seeks Federal Help Over Drug Crisis
Critics of the mayor have called her a “defund the police” supporter, which is ironic because her police department is having trouble finding enough people to hire because of the growing drug problem. So, she asked the federal government for help to solve the city’s problems, which have been going on for years.
Because of this, people who support the police have been very critical of her because she changed her mind on the issue.
One of these critics is Lt. Tracy McCray of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. She said that the mayor of San Francisco “hates” law enforcement and that officers are a key part of fixing the city’s problems.
“If you want… to have a police department, you want morale to be good. You want people here to do this job. Unfortunately, yes, you need us to do this job,” McCray said during “America’s Newsroom” Monday.
As the number of overdoses caused by fentanyl continues to rise, San Francisco Mayor Breed’s letter put a lot of emphasis on stopping the city’s “open-air drug market.”
Public Health Calamity
The San Francisco Department of Public Health said on Twitter that its street teams responded to over 2,200 911 calls last year, treating overdoses and giving medical, mental health, and addiction medications.
@SF_DPH street teams responded to more than 2,200 911 calls last year to respond to overdoses and provide medical, mental health, and medications for addiction treatment in the community to get them on a path to wellness and recovery. #streetcare pic.twitter.com/EDDrCKC0Wq
— SFDPH (@SF_DPH) April 1, 2023
In 2021, San Francisco Mayor Breed declared a three-month emergency and used city resources to crack down on drug dealing during a drug crisis in the city’s Tenderloin.
However, data showed there are 541 too few police officers in San Francisco.
Another report obtained by Fox News found that a review of state records showed the San Francisco Police Department hired dozens of officers who needed to be qualified or have the proper paperwork.
In the Bay Area, 45 officers’ hiring records were missing important information in the last seven years. This included fingerprints, proof of citizenship, graduation records, and psychological and background checks that were only partly done.
During her state of the city speech this year, San Francisco Mayor Breed promised to improve public safety and police work and to stop the city’s drug problem.
The office of the chief medical examiner in San Francisco says that between January and February of this year, there were 131 drug overdose deaths that were not planned.
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