S.F. Tenderloin businesses find crackdown on open-air drug use underwhelming

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s drug hotspots will see more law enforcement on the ground as part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s crackdown on crime and fentanyl that began in May. 

He announced that he is doubling the number of CHP officers to 14 to assist San Francisco police patroling the Tenderloin and surrounding neighborhoods.

Jakub Przybyszewski, co-owner of the mid-Market Street bar Fermentation Lab said there’s not one day that goes by where he doesn’t pass by drug activity on his way to work. He said he’s become callous to all of it and he added that enforcement at various levels of government has come in waves over the years. 

When it comes to this latest crackdown, he’s still waiting to see any noticeable change.

“I’m happy that they’re doing something. I wish there was more that could be done,” he said. “This area — I’ve been in for 11 years and nothing’s ever really changed.”

Gov. Newsom said that, since the crackdown began, the seven CHP officers, in partnership with National Guard data analysts, have seized significant amounts of fentanyl, firearms and stolen goods.

“We want to build on that early success because we recognize the scale and opportunity and the responsibility to do more to supports cities like San Francisco to address quality-of-life issues. Not just issues related to fentanyl and drug use and abuse but property crime issues as well,” he said at a Thursday press conference. 

Przybyszewski said crime in the area has worsened post-pandemic.

“Folks that are visiting us from other neighborhoods or are coming here to maybe watch a play at the Orpheum Theatre that’s right around the corner — they don’t feel safe and you can tell very easily that they’re on the edge,” he said. “Even that quick walk — half a block — can feel scary.”

In the last week, SFPD data show that officers made 18 citations or arrests for drug violations in the Tenderloin area.

“My pleas would be just like everybody else would love more police presence but, not only that, we would want there to be repercussions for crimes,” Przybyszewski said. 

Mayor London Breed’s office said not one of the people arrested for public drug use since May to mid-June accepted offers of treatment after they were released.

Przybyszewski said business closures in the area, including Hotel Whitcomb across the street and Whole Foods on Market, have thinned the crowd. 

“Especially international tourists, there were so many French folks, German folks that we used to see and we don’t see them anymore,” he said. “And the conversations that I have with the tourists now are a little bit different because I can’t just tell them ‘oh it’s safe, it’s just a visual thing’ because it really isn’t.”

He said he cannot rely on police to deal with drug users who cause trouble at his business because there aren’t enough officers to respond in a timely manner. He and his staff have to ask miscreants to leave or remove them. He added that he wasn’t surprised when his car got broken into recently in the area. Przybyszewski said he also sees rampant shoplifting at bodegas and small businesses in the area. 

Newsom also said that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s federal program to combat the fentanyl crisis will add DEA and FBI resources on the ground. That operation is expected to roll out in the next 60 to 90 days.