SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In San Francisco, a group of residents say they are suing the city claiming their street has turned into the epicenter of sex work.

Last year, ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena broke the story of prostitution on Capp Street which led to the city taking action but now, residents on another street say all the prostitution has migrated to their block.

Residents on San Francisco’s Shotwell Street say they have reached a breaking point.

“We have our kids come over and their friends and they have to see all this. It’s embarrassing,” said Esperanza Aparicio, a Shotwell Street resident. “I’m just tired. I hope the city does something about it.”

Esperanza Aparicio and her husband Reynaldo are part of a group of San Francisco residents who are pleading for the city to take action and stop the prostitution that takes over their street every night. On Wednesday, five residents announced they are suing the city.

EXCLUSIVE: SF residents say this street has turned into ‘Las Vegas Strip’ with alleged sex workers

“We had no other choice,” said Ayman Farahat, one of the residents suing the city. “We have been talking to them for years. In this corner we had a meeting in June of 2023 to discuss exactly those issues. Nothing happened, but in the meantime, we had the attack by the sex worker, we had a murder, we had a motorcycle on the sidewalk, endless nights of traffic.”

Residents on Shotwell say they have tried everything to deter prostitution from their area.

In January, a group of them held signs and protested at night as pimps and sex workers were out. Some residents have confronted pimps and sex workers.

“They started pushing back against me and then one of them basically said, you know I have a knife, and she threatened me,” said Shotwell Street resident, Laura Sydell.

Some threats have led to attacks.

Barriers at San Francisco’s Capp St. forces alleged sex work to new area, report says

“There was a prostitute and we asked her to leave. She turned around and she sprayed me with mace. My eyes were all burnt,” said Shotwell Street resident, Reynaldo Aparicio.

Many of the people in the area noticed a clear shift about a year ago after the city placed road barriers on Capp Street to stop car traffic from prostitution. They say all that car traffic moved to Shotwell Street.

“We need to be very deliberate about how we solve them and just closing one street is not a deliberate solution,” said Farahat.

For the past year, Shotwell Street residents have been documenting the activity.

“We hear a lot of loud music, or yelling, or the prostitute beating up another prostitute then I get up and I start looking there and I’m all night watching,” said Aparicio.

SF Capp St. sex worker issue improved but drivers blocking barriers are now creating hazards

After residents announced legal action, the mayor’s office responded, promising: “New strategies include new barriers on Shotwell Street to prevent individuals from using their vehicles for prostitution that also causes congestion and traffic issues, new public safety cameras, and the issuance of Dear John letters to help discourage the illegal behavior.”

Shotwell Street residents want to see permanent solutions.

“We want to be able to sleep at night, but we also don’t want others to suffer, and this is what the city will gladly do. It’s just push it one block to the other,” said Farahat.

According to the Mayor’s office, SFPD has made 72 arrests in multiple enforcement operations in the last four months around Shotwell Street.

In a statement, the San Francisco city attorney’s office said:

SF residents debate effectiveness of barriers installed in hopes to curb sex work on key street

“Once we are served with the lawsuit, we will review the complaint and respond appropriately.”

Full statement from the mayor’s office:

“San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen announced a series of new measures to address illegal prostitution impacting Shotwell Street in the Mission neighborhood. These initiatives come out of a series of meetings City agencies have had with community members and are responsive to their requests.

These new strategies include new barriers on Shotwell Street to prevent individuals from using their vehicles for prostitution that also causes congestion and traffic issues, new public safety cameras, and the issuance of Dear John letters to help discourage the illegal behavior.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has been enforcing laws and deploying strategies to combat the decades-long challenges associated with illegal prostitution around Shotwell Street in the Mission District. The SFPD has made 72 arrests in multiple enforcement operations in the last four months around Shotwell Street, a known corridor for illegal prostitution-related crimes.

SFPD patrol and plain clothes officers will continue prostitution enforcement operations in the Mission and hold individuals accountable for their actions who are coming into our neighborhoods to commit crimes and disturb the peace.

“By working with the community, we’ve developed solutions that will make the Mission safer for all,” said Mayor London Breed. “Our police officers will continue to enforce our laws, but these new strategies will help us build on that work and improve conditions in the neighborhood. This is part of our commitment to address significant challenges in the Mission neighborhood.”

“My office has given these neighbors and this issue a great deal of attention, and we have been working with City departments to come up with meaningful solutions, including outreach to sex workers to get them support and protections, and ultimately off the streets,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen. “Real solutions require collaboration and creative thinking to tackle this age-old issue, not frivolous legal action.”

New, Expanded Strategies

The City, under the leadership of the Mayor’s Office, has been working with the community to develop additional strategies, including:

• Barriers: City agencies, including SFMTA, will install and improve barriers along Shotwell Street, similar to the barriers that were installed on Capp Street.
• Cameras: The City is working to install cameras that are highly visible to deter people from soliciting prostitution and related crimes. The cameras would also capture evidence to be used in enforcement operations. These would be new public cameras authorized under Prop E.
• Dear John Letters: The City is launching so-called “Dear John” letters and encouraging community members to submit tips about people engaging in solicitation or other prostitution. Based on the circumstances, a warning letter will then be sent to the registered owner of the vehicle, indicating that it was seen in a known area for prostitution activity. The primary objective is to discourage such behavior by notifying drivers that they have been observed in the area. Additionally, it is possible that others residing at the vehicle owner’s address may also become aware of the letter’s content upon its arrival.

SFPD will continue to enforce the law by citing and arresting people engaged in prostitution-related activity.

“Illegal sex work degrades the quality of life in our city, and it cannot be tolerated,” said SFPD Chief Bill Scott. “Our officers will continue to enforce the law as we implement new strategies and technology to deter this high-risk behavior. Strategies like Dear John letters have been effective in other jurisdictions at deterring people from engaging in this activity and we expect to see similar results in San Francisco.”

As the San Francisco Giants fight for a Wild Card spot heading into the final month of the season, there are some things to be encouraged about in the future.

The Giants will be one of many teams in the National League heading into the final month of the season with a chance of making the playoffs. As San Francisco tries to move up in the standings, they have a strong offseason to thank for some of their success this season.

In the offseason, the Giants were able to sign both Matt Chapman and Blake Snell to some very team-friendly deals. For Snell especially, he was coming off a Cy Young award-winning season, but the Giants were patient in free agency and got him for a bargain.

Recently, Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report spoke about the front office of the Giants being its greatest strength.

“Three years ago, this section would have been about the Giants’ coaching ingenuity. Now they’re no longer anything special in that regard, and Blake Snell’s and Matt Chapman’s opt-outs could result in a quick dissolution of last winter’s free-agent haul.”

“However, such a thing need not spell doom for San Francisco. Since taking over the front office in 2018, Farhan Zaidi has drafted Patrick Bailey, Tyler Fitzgerald and Kyle Harrison and overseen star turns by Logan Webb and Heliot Ramos. None of them is going anywhere anytime soon.”

It is so important in any sport to have a strong and stable front office. Teams that don’t generally do poorly , and the Giants have to be pleased with how Farhan Zaidi has done so far.

While the signings of Snell and Chapman were great ones in the offseason, it looks like they will be heading right back to free agency this winter because of their great seasons. However, even if the Giants lose Snell and Chapman, they have some young players to be excited about.

On offense, Heliot Ramos has had a great season, as he is batting .284 with 20 home runs and 64 RBIs. At just 24 years old, the future is very bright for Ramos, and the Giants will have to try and get some more talent around him in the lineup.

The pitching staff led by Logan Webb appears like they are going to be a solid unit for years to come, with or without Snell.

Overall, the front office of the Giants was able to put together a competitive team this season that has a positive outlook for the future. In the very challenging NL West, San Francisco should be pleased with their performance this season.

More than a year into the crackdown on San Francisco’s illegal drug markets, users in the Tenderloin say they’re still scoring hard drugs on Market Street between Sixth and Seventh, though it’s not quite as easy.

Locals say there have been minimal improvements in the past year at the problem-plagued intersections, which continue to draw crowds. Yet police have hailed the crackdown as a success, pointing to numbers of arrests and kilos of drugs seized.

According to SFPD data, police seized 242.2 kilograms of illegal narcotics, including 110.6 kilograms of fentanyl and 58.6 kilograms of methamphetamine, between May 29, 2023, and Aug. 14, 2024. They arrested 1,224 dealers and 1,526 drug users during that period.

Of the 2,636 people booked into jail as of July 31 as part of the crackdown, only 14 were interested in treatment, a San Francisco Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said.