San Francisco city officials have initiated a new strategy to tackle drug activity and loitering in the Tenderloin district by prohibiting parking at specific hotspots for limited periods.
Recently, city crews concentrated their efforts on three blocks of Leavenworth Street, power washing sidewalks, towing vehicles, and encouraging individuals to move along.
In the upcoming days, Ellis Street between Hyde and Polk will see similar actions, with a 72-hour notice given to vehicles to vacate the area from August 4 to 6, or face towing.
Tenderloin Station Captain Matt Sullivan, who has recently taken charge of the district station, stated, “We’re trying to clean the streets, clean the sidewalks.”
This initiative is part of a broader effort led by the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, which includes various city agencies aiming to focus on drug markets in areas such as the Tenderloin, SoMa, and the Mission.
City agencies responsible for this effort include the Department of Public Works, which manages power washing operations, and the Municipal Transportation Agency, handling the towing of vehicles.
During a monthly district station meeting, Sullivan addressed residents, who expressed mixed feelings about the parking bans but acknowledged their effectiveness in cleaning the streets.
Resident Aaron Thomas noted that the temporary inconveniences of parking were worth the positive outcomes. He explained, “The people hide behind the cars. They evade the police, because they drive by and they can’t see them.”
He observed that, following the removal of parked cars, drug dealers were notably less present: “When the cars are gone, the drug dealers are gone.”
However, Thomas also recognized that some individuals struggling with addiction remained in the area, highlighting the complex nature of the problem.
Sullivan clarified that the street clearing initiative is not aimed at facilitating arrests but rather to improve cleanliness for residents. He deemed the first round of street clearings a success, stating, “It looked like people were happy. It didn’t look like people were out there dealing drugs, loitering, drinking.”
Concerns were raised at the community meeting regarding the broader implications of this strategy. One resident questioned whether significant resources would be wasted if underlying systemic issues remained unaddressed.
“Every day, I say ‘thank you, guys, for cleaning up the city a little bit,’” he said. “But do you guys have any plans to try to actually combat the issue of them going right back after you guys have left?”
In response, Sullivan mentioned that there might be a learning curve associated with implementing the new program, but he expressed hope about involving community ambassadors to sustain the progress made in street cleanliness.
Esan Looper, the Director of Community Organizing at the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, echoed the sentiment, highlighting the need for problem-solving within the new strategy.
He expressed enthusiasm regarding the initiative’s potential to disrupt patterns of drug use in and around parked vehicles, stating, “I could not believe the difference it made.”
Looper also made himself available to discuss strategies to minimize the impact on residents’ parking abilities as the city navigates this new approach to addressing concerns in the Tenderloin.
image source from：missionlocal
