Drug Crackdown: San Francisco Mayor Reveals New Arrest Policy

Until recently, I would not have expected to ever see “drug crackdown” and “San Francisco” in the same headline again in my lifetime. Josh Koehn has this article with the above headline in the San Francisco Standard.

San Francisco authorities will force people taken into custody for drug use or possession into a specialized court after a second arrest.

Mayor London Breed announced the policy change by the District Attorney’s Office in a conversation Wednesday evening at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. Brooke Jenkins, whom the mayor appointed district attorney last summer, previously said that the city would force people into the drug court after five arrests, and then dropped that number to three in December.

The District Attorney’s Office confirmed the change in policy to two arrests for drug use and/or possession after receiving community feedback. People charged a second time will be placed in the Community Justice Center court system starting July 3.

“We would be derelict in our duty to protect public safety if we do not utilize every means available to us in our mission to disrupt open-air drug markets by holding drug dealers accountable and working to steer users into care,” Jenkins said in a statement.

Even the capital of American progressivism is coming to understand that an “anything goes” policy on drugs is a disaster.

Yes, “derelict in [their] duty” describes the city’s leadership for the last few decades until very recently. But there is more to be done.

Near the end of the evening, Breed was asked how the community could help her achieve her goals and support San Francisco. The mayor didn’t miss a beat.

“Give me a new Board of Supervisors,” she said.