Pedestrians walk along the edge of a sidewalk to avoid tents and sleeping bags, on April 13, 2020, in the heart of San Francisco.
Ben Margot/AP
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Ben Margot/AP
Pedestrians walk along the edge of a sidewalk to avoid tents and sleeping bags, on April 13, 2020, in the heart of San Francisco.
Ben Margot/AP
California Governor Gavin Newsom is directing the California Highway Patrol and National Guard to assist San Francisco authorities in combating the city’s fentanyl crisis.
The two agencies will be partnering with the local police department and district attorney’s office to try to stop the trafficking of the deadly synthetic opioid.
“Two truths can coexist at the same time: San Francisco’s violent crime rate is below cities of comparable size like Jacksonville and Fort Worth – and there is also more we need to do to address concerns about public safety, especially the fentanyl crisis,” Newsom said. in press release on Friday.
The four agencies are expected to “crack down” on fentanyl-related crimes and increase law enforcement presence in public areas. However, Newsom’s office has promised that the operation will not target drug addicts and instead focus on drug suppliers and traffickers.
The CHP will assist local police in drug trafficking enforcement in key areas of the city, including the Tenderloin district, where Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in December 2021 on crime and drug overdoses.
Meanwhile, the California National Guard will offer support in analyzing drug operations, with a particular focus on fentanyl trafficking rings.
Newsom’s announcement did not include details on 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 faces an alarming increase in deaths linked to fentanyl, a drug known to be more powerful and deadly than heroin.
In 2021, 474 people he died from fentanyl-related overdoses in the city. Between January and March of this year, 200 people died from accidental drug overdoses, with the vast majority of deaths involving synthetic opioids, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Matt Dorsey, supervisor of San Francisco, thanked Newsom on Twitter for providing the city with “much-needed state resources to disrupt, dismantle and deter brazen open-air drug markets.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener said he also welcomed the coordinated effort, but also noted that the governor vetoed his legislation to create a pilot program for safe consumption sites in the city, the San Francisco Standard reported.
