SF Mayor Proposes Curfew in Tenderloin Area to Combat Open Air Drug Use
San Francisco, CA: Mayor Breed of San Francisco wants to put a business curfew in place to cut down on crime and drug use in the Tenderloin neighborhood. This is a notoriously dangerous, homeless, and drug-filled area of the city.
Breed pushed for the move in a post on X.
“Shutting down open air drug markets requires strong enforcement and new approaches,” she wrote. “Last year SFPD doubled the arrests of drug dealers from the year before. This year we are continuing that work and federal agents are bringing even more enforcement.”
The Mayor’s office said in a press release on Tuesday that it would introduce legislation to “ban some retail establishments selling pre-packaged food or tobacco products from operating between 12 a.m. (midnight) and 5 a.m. in part of the Tenderloin.”
Mayor Breed of San Francisco is introducing new laws that will put a curfew on a part of the Tenderloin neighborhood. This is a notoriously dangerous, homeless, and drug-filled area of the city. (Hawk Images)
Police, business owners, and people who live in San Francisco have had different reactions to the plan.
In an interview with KTVU, Assistant Chief David Lazar said, “Our problems still happen at night.” “There are a lot of people there selling drugs and stolen goods.” There are drug users everywhere. The trouble is that liquor stores, smoke shops, and other businesses that are open bring in more people.
Tim Benson, the boss of a nearby restaurant, told the news source that a curfew might help the area deal with crime.
“The police have been much more active, [Department of Public Works] has been out helping the cleanup effort,” he said. “But it seems to happen mostly during the day.” And at night, it’s still kind of like the Wild West.”
The person from San Francisco told the news source that the plan for a curfew “wouldn’t work at all” because “people are still homeless and they’re still out here all night, so the markets don’t really have anything to do with the crime.”
“The reason why we want it to stay open is because we have to make more money to pay rent, to pay bills, phone bills, internet bills, and we have employees,” a store worker told KTVU.
The worker said, “Because of the area, we have extra security.”
An individual from San Francisco told the news source that the proposed curfew would not “work at all” because “people are still homeless and they’re still out here all night long, so the markets don’t really have anything to do with the crime.”
Reference: FOX News
