Despite San Francisco’s Aggressive Crackdown on Fentanyl Dealers and Open-Air Drug Use, City Finds a Record Year for Overdose Deaths
Joint federal, state and city efforts have swept more drug dealers off the streets, but ‘they are rapidly replaced because the demand remains.’
Open-air drug dealing is rampant in San Francisco’s troubled downtown – particularly in the notorious Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods. Officials at the local, state and federal levels have been working to curb this criminal activity, but some residents still remain skeptical about the progress being made.
Last year, City Hall made the controversial decision to enact a new surveillance program allowing San Francisco police to use real-time camera footage to arrest suspected fentanyl dealers. Then, Mayor London Breed announced a partnership with California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, in April “to enhance resources to help combat San Francisco’s deadly fentanyl crisis” by bringing in the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard. Come June, the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center was launched.
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