San Francisco cracks down connected stateless encampments
San Francisco — One time successful May, Reily was the latest unhoused idiosyncratic successful San Francisco to beryllium caught up successful the city's year-long assertive enforcement tactics.
Involved successful the apprehension was San Francisco constabulary Sgt. Dennis Hoang, the department's stateless portion supervisor.
"I asked Reily however galore times they've been cited for amerciable lodging, and they said...four times," Hoang told CBS News. "We're astatine a constituent wherever we are nary longer tolerating chronic amerciable behavior."
In mid-2024, San Francisco began much targeted sweeps of stateless encampments crossed the metropolis successful an effort to address its stateless crisis.
"These nationalist sidewalks are for the public," Hoang said. "And, unfortunately, it's not a spot for radical to store their idiosyncratic belongings."
Between June of 2024 and June of this year, astir 1,000 radical person been arrested oregon cited for amerciable camping successful San Francisco, according to metropolis data, but fewer are ever charged.
"I'm going to get kicked retired of the shelter," Reily told CBS News. "I'm going to travel backmost connected the street. I'm going to get cited again, it's a breached system."
Unhoused radical who spoke to CBS News said immoderate of the shelters bash not acceptable their needs for a assortment of reasons, specified arsenic dormitory-style lodging that requires having roommates, nary retention for idiosyncratic possessions and nary pets allowed.
Arrests are a past resort, conducted lone if the idiosyncratic repeatedly ignores citations and refuses the city's aggregate offers of structure and services.
The city's efforts look to person paid disconnected with disposable results. Nearly fractional of the 8,000 stateless that unrecorded successful San Francisco are sheltered, per metropolis data, up 35% from 2019.
In San Francisco's Mission District, constabulary and metropolis workers are faced with tense and affectional challenges. Jeff, who didn't privation to stock his past name, was upset by his arrest. He said helium sleeps outdoors by "choice."
"I'm getting their assistance already," said Jeff erstwhile asked by CBS News wherefore helium refused assistance and resources from the city. "Where does that pb me?"
Democratic San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who took bureau successful January, was elected by voters frustrated by the city's ample stateless encampments and its soaring transgression rates.
Despite the crackdown connected stateless encampments, Lurie contends that it is "absolutely not" the city's presumption that it is simply a transgression to beryllium either mediocre oregon stateless successful San Francisco.
"Our absorption is getting radical disconnected the thoroughfare and into structure and into intelligence wellness and cause attraction beds," Lurie told CBS News.
"We pb with services," Lurie said. "We pb with our values, which is taking attraction of people."
He believes his tough-on-crime policies and absorption connected rehabilitation person created safer nationalist spaces.
"We're getting a batch of concern leaders engaged and progressive successful the metropolis successful a mode that they haven't been for a agelong time," Lurie said. "And there's this feeling of anticipation and optimism."
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