San Francisco, CA

San Francisco police and street cleaners take aggressive approach to clearing homeless encampments

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2024

San Francisco police and street cleaners take aggressive approach to clearing homeless encampments

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Police in San Francisco will start clearing out homeless residents living in public areas under new policies announced Tuesday by the office of Mayor London Breed, who has pledged a more aggressive approach to tent encampments following a key U.S. Supreme Court decision.

In a memo, Breed’s office said city workers will continue offering housing and services to homeless people as they work to dismantle tent encampments, but street cleaners, police and other city workers will have greater leeway to prevent tents from popping back up in areas that have been cleared or to prevent smaller encampments from growing into larger ones.

San Francisco has nearly 4,000 shelter beds for an estimated 8,000 people who are homeless. Breed has expanded capacity since taking office in 2018, but the city is still short.

“The goal of this enforcement is for people to accept offers of shelter and know that they cannot remain where they are. Staff will not be required to re-offer shelter in an area where they’ve recently been working to clear an encampment if individuals return to that same area,” said the release.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June made it easier for cities to ban homeless encampments, an issue cropping up in more parts of the country amid the high costs of housing and opioid drug crisis. In California, which is home to nearly a third of an estimated 650,000 homeless people in the U.S., Gov. Gavin Newsom last week ordered state agencies to begin removing tents and structures on state land.

In central California, the Fresno City Council gave initial approval Monday to a ban on homeless camping despite impassioned pleas from residents and advocates that people should not be punished for being poor.

In San Francisco, a multi-department unit goes out to clear encampments at least twice a day, five days a week, with homeless residents receiving advance notice of upcoming cleanings and outreach.

That will continue, but city workers can now return to cleared areas to force out a returning person. Also, new teams of police and public works employees will go out daily to address smaller encampments.

Breed, who is in a tough reelection bid, said the city will still offer services and shelter. But new methods are needed as homeless people reject two-thirds of shelter offers. Enforcement will be progressive, with warnings followed by citations, escalating penalties, and even arrest, according to her office.

Homeless people say they have rejected shelter offers because they can’t take all their belongings or bring pets, or they have had traumatic encounters with staff or other residents. They were among those who sued the city in 2022, alleging the city was not providing notice or making real offers of shelter. The case is pending.

Homeless advocates in San Francisco said at a Tuesday press event that hundreds of subsidized housing units and hotel rooms are vacant and available, but officials are focused instead on encampment sweeps that worsen the situation.

“Our local officials are choosing to confiscate people’s property, survival gear, medications, the last items they’re holding on to after losing everything, instead of offering… a place to live,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.

Officials with Los Angeles County said at a supervisors’ board meeting Tuesday they disagreed with the governor’s approach to addressing homelessness.

“Criminalization is intentionally not part of the county’s framework because it makes the problem worse by creating more barriers along people’s path to housing, and it runs counter to our goals to create a more equitable system,” said Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum.

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AP reporter Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.

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San Francisco, CA

Where the wild things dine: Inside Wolfsbane, San Francisco’s most exciting new restaurant

Published

10 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Where the wild things dine: Inside Wolfsbane, San Francisco’s most exciting new restaurant

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a new kind of magic happening in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood; the kind that arrives quietly, in nine courses, with a glass of rare Kentucky bourbon in hand.

Wolfsbane, named for the ancient plant of folklore said to keep werewolves at bay, opened its doors last Fall as a collaboration between Tommy Halvorson, a Kentucky-born chef and catering veteran, and the husband-and-wife duo behind the beloved Michelin-starred Lord Stanley, chef Rupert Blease and general manager Carrie Blease. Together, the three have transformed the former space of Serpentine, Halvorson’s previous restaurant, into one of the city’s most anticipated fine dining destinations.

The idea, Halvorson says, had been brewing for years. “I always kind of had in the back of my mind, I was like, we should have Rupert and Carrie,” he recalls. The opportunity came last year as both camps closed up their respective restaurants. “I texted Rupert and I was like, dude, it’s time. We need to open a restaurant.” Once the decision was made, there was no looking back. “We pretty much stepped on the gas and started rolling.”

The Bleases are no strangers to commitment. Carrie first met Rupert while interning at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in England, a storied Michelin two-starred property helmed by Raymond Blanc. “We worked at a lot of places together, probably more so than apart,” Carrie says. After years in London, New York, and the English countryside, San Francisco became home and eventually their life’s work. Lord Stanley ran for a decade before the couple channeled everything into this new chapter.

The nine-course tasting menu is rooted in Northern California’s rich bounty. “We go to the farmer’s markets several times a week,” says Rupert. “We buy directly from farms. We use all of the local produce that we can possibly find when it’s in season.” Standouts include an edible sunflower fashioned from artichoke heart with toasted seed butter and poppy seeds, and the return of favorites from Lord Stanley, including its buttermilk cabbage dish and delicate onion petal appetizer.

But for all its refinement, Wolfsbane is deliberately unpretentious. “We don’t want to create a space where people feel uncomfortable because they think they’re going to be looked down upon because they don’t know which fork to use,” Halvorson says. The bar program reflects his personal obsession; rare bourbons sourced over years, including a barrel named after his family’s Kentucky farm. “When you get into really well-made bourbon, really high-proof, and it doesn’t feel like they are, that’s when you know you’ve got something special there.” What Halvorson says about bourbon also sums up Wolfsbane-high-concept dining that doesn’t feel like it, making for a special and unforgettable experience.

For more information, visit https://wolfsbanesf.com/

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San Francisco, CA

Daniel Lurie sparked confrontation that injured security team: Police report

Published

22 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Daniel Lurie sparked confrontation that injured security team: Police report

Mayor Daniel Lurie sparked the altercation that led to a fight and injuries to two San Francisco police officers in his security detail, according to a police report of the incident obtained by the Standard.

On Thursday evening at 5:38 p.m., Lurie, an aide, and two members of his security team were driving north on Larkin St. when they spotted several people sitting on the sidewalk on the corner of Cedar St., an alley in the Tenderloin.

The mayor ordered the driver of his Rivian SUV, Officer Nicholas Boccio, to pull over. Lurie hopped out of the SUV. His second bodyguard, Officer Joel Aguayo, followed.

What happened next would result in two injured officers, a gun aimed at a man’s chest, two arrests, and renewed questions about the public safety under the mayor’s leadership.

While footage of the incident after the officer pushed one of the men has been published by Mission Local (opens in new tab), details about what led up to the fight have not been previously revealed.

After leaving the safety of his vehicle, the mayor took matters into his own hands, the report says. Lurie attempted to get the group hanging out on Cedar St. to move, but one of the men refused.

“On whose behalf do I need to move?” asked one of the men named Tony Phillips, according to Aguayo’s statement.

According to the narrative of the combined witness statements, “Mayor Lurie addressed the group and requested that they move along, as they were standing in the roadway. Phillips became immediately argumentative, stating that he did not have to move.”

Lurie told Phillips that Aguayo was an SFPD officer. Aguayo repeated that and requested that Phillips comply and move out of the way. Phillips again refused.

The police report said the mayor and Aguayo asked Phillips to move at least four times, at one point saying they would call uniformed officers to remove him.

Still, Phillips refused, as the mayor paced a few feet away from Aguayo, video of the incident shows.

While most of the group of four men appeared to stay put, according to footage of the incident, Phillips stepped toward Aguayo, who was standing in front of the mayor.

According to the police report, Phillips then said, “I’ll Bruce Lee kick your ass.” Aguayo then swiftly pushed Phillips to the ground. Phillips got up and was pushed again before rushing the officer. The pair grappled and then fell to the ground, and Aguayo struck the back of his head.

During the fight, Lurie ran to the parked SUV to tell the driver, Boccio, that his partner was in trouble. When Boccio rushed to help, another man in the alley — Abraham Simon — grabbed the officer and reached for his waistband. Simon backed off after Boccio pulled his service weapon.

Boccio then helped Aguayo but was unable to restrain Phillips. It wasn’t until several uniformed officers arrived that Phillips was taken into custody.

Aguayo, who suffered cuts to the back of his head, facial bruising, and a back injury, said to investigating officers that he had to use force on Phillips because he was threatened verbally and got within inches of him. The officer also said he tried to de-escalate to no avail. Boccio’s hand was cut during the confrontation.

No body camera footage was captured of the incident because officers in the mayor’s security detail did not wear them.

The incident, about which Lurie has made brief statements, has raised questions about whether Lurie’s freewheeling approach to walking the streets could put him into danger. The mayor told reporters last week after the incident that he asked the people to move because he was concerned for their safety and that of other pedestrians and drivers.

“I’m out here walking the streets of San Francisco like I do every day. I believe that you can’t solve what you can’t see,” Lurie said in an Instagram post Monday, seemingly doubling down on his approach to interacting with San Franciscans.

When asked for comment, the mayor’s spokesman Charles Lutvak referred to the Instagram post and a story Lurie shared in his State of the City speech about approaching a man who appeared to be an addict, who told the mayor to mind his own business.

The mayor’s reply: “You are my business.”

Lurie’s own account of the incident was not included in the police report, although the document says he later would be contacted for a statement.

Phillips is set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of threatening an officer, inflicting great bodily injury, and contempt of court for violating a stay-away order from the alley. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office will request that Phillips remain in custody as he is a threat to the public.

Simon is also set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of interfering with an officer.

The incident is also being investigated by the Department of Police Accountability, according to The Chronicle.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco man charged with attempted murder in unprovoked daylight Chinatown stabbing

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco man charged with attempted murder in unprovoked daylight Chinatown stabbing

SAN FRANCISCO – A 37-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in what authorities described as an unprovoked, broad daylight stabbing in San Francisco’s Chinatown last week.

Suspect charged

What we know:

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that Jian Feng Huang was charged with attempted murder in connection with the attack at Stockton and Sacramento streets.

Huang, of San Francisco, will be arraigned Tuesday. He remains in custody.

Jenkins described the incident as a “horrific attack of an innocent man waiting to cross the street.” She said there is no indication that the victim and the suspect knew each other.

Surveillance video captures attack

Dig deeper:

Surveillance footage circulating online shows a man in a black hoodie walking down Stockton Street before suddenly lunging at a man who was waiting at a corner to cross the street.

The attacker stabbed the victim in the back and then walked away, according to the video. The victim is seen collapsing to the ground.

The attack occurred shortly after 1 p.m.

Bystanders rush to help

Local perspective:

Bystanders and business owners rushed to help the wounded man.

“We bring the ice and the towels to stop bleeding,” said Rawnie Chan, manager of Flags International Services. Chan said the victim was speaking in Cantonese and said he was in pain.

One business owner said she grabbed frozen dumplings from an office refrigerator to place on the wound because there were no restaurants nearby with ice available.

Victim recovering

Jenkins said the victim is recovering at a local hospital. Authorities previously said the victim suffered life-threatening injuries and has undergone at least two surgeries.

The Source: This story was written based on information from San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.

San FranciscoCrime and Public Safety

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