Pedestrians stroll alongside the sting of a sidewalk to keep away from tents and sleeping baggage, on April 13, 2020, within the tenderloin space of San Francisco.
Ben Margot/AP
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Ben Margot/AP
Pedestrians stroll alongside the sting of a sidewalk to keep away from tents and sleeping baggage, on April 13, 2020, within the tenderloin space of San Francisco.
Ben Margot/AP
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is directing the California Highway Patrol and National Guard to help San Francisco authorities in combating the fentanyl disaster within the metropolis.
The two businesses can be partnering with the native police division and the district legal professional’s workplace to aim to stem trafficking of the lethal artificial opioid.
“Two truths can co-exist on the identical time: San Francisco’s violent crime price is beneath comparably sized cities like Jacksonville and Fort Worth — and there may be additionally extra we should do to deal with public security issues, particularly the fentanyl disaster,” Newsom mentioned in a press assertion on Friday.
The 4 businesses are anticipated to “crack down” on crimes linked to fentanyl and enhance legislation enforcement presence in public areas. However, Newsom’s workplace vowed that the operation is not going to goal these with drug addictions and as an alternative give attention to drug suppliers and traffickers.
CHP will help native police in drug trafficking enforcement in key areas of town, together with the Tenderloin district, the place Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in December 2021 over crime and drug overdoses.
Meanwhile, the California National Guard will supply assist in analyzing drug operations, with a selected give attention to fentanyl trafficking rings.
Newsom’s announcement didn’t embody particulars on the variety of personnel concerned, funding and what enforcement will appear to be. The governor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for a remark.
The multiagency effort comes as San Francisco grapples with an alarming rise in deaths linked to fentanyl, a drug recognized for being stronger and lethal than heroin.
In 2021, 474 individuals died from fentanyl-related overdoses within the metropolis. Between January and March of this 12 months, 200 individuals died from unintended drug overdoses, with a overwhelming majority of deaths involving the artificial opioid, in accordance with the San Francisco Chronicle.
Matt Dorsey, a San Francisco supervisor, thanked Newsom on Twitter for offering town “much-needed state assets to disrupt, dismantle and deter brazen open-air drug markets.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener mentioned he additionally welcomed the coordinated effort, but in addition famous that the governor vetoed his laws to create a pilot program for protected consumption websites within the metropolis, the San Francisco Standard reported.