by Randy Shaw on July 31, 2023 (BeyondChron.org)
Drug market on 600 Eddy temporarily cleared
Consistent Enforcement Still Lacking
The Tenderloin’s large open air drug market on the 600 block of Eddy was closed for 3 and 1/2 days last week. The adjacent photo shows the front of the Elk Hotel last Thursday afternoon—where two prior stories depicted constant drug dealing.
Also closed during that period was the drug market at the vacant City College building on the 700 block of Eddy. 8th and Mission was also cleared. The Federal Protective Services dispersed dealers and users from the Pelosi Federal Building at 7th and Mission.
That’s good news, right? Unfortunately, it was too soon to claim victory.
By late Thursday afternoon dealers were allowed to return to both blocks of Eddy. They remained through the weekend. But the Pelosi Federal Building remained clear. Thirty sheriffs arrested an estimated fifteen dealers on Saturday afternoon after they returned to their longtime place of business.
Last week’s message is clear: law enforcement can close drug markets. The challenge is getting law enforcement to match its anti-dealer words with effective actions.
Enforcement Must Be Expanded
Many drug markets still need enforcement. Specifically:
*The daytime success at UN Plaza ends after dark. People I spoke with estimate at least 500 dealers and users in the area at night. Market Street between 7th and 8th, the area that houses ACT-Strand and the former Whole Foods, is completely off the hook in the evening. Check out the video tweeted by @FriscoLive415 on 7th and Market (north of the Federal Building) on Saturday at 9:50 pm—not a good advertisement for San Francisco.
*The west side of the 300 block of Hyde remains filled with drug users;
*The 800 block of Eddy at Van Ness (see companion story);
*Leavenworth between Golden Gate and Turk, scene of a recent shooting, is filled with sidewalk blocking tents and drug users;
*illegal vending at the 16th and 24th Street BART stations is off the charts. Posted on twitter last week was a flyer at the MacArthur BART station promoting the sale of stolen goods at 24th Street BART. The hours listed are “Before the Cops Show Up and After They Leave.” The flyer is likely sarcastic but speaks to a widespread feeling that the SFPD’s tolerance for illegal vending helps fuel the city’s drug and shoplifting crises.
Other trouble spots remain as well.
Enforcement Must Be Consistent
Here’s the fundamental problem: the city lacks a system to prevent recently cleared drug markets from reopening. Ideally, law enforcement would regularly recheck areas that have been dispersed so if dealers return they are quickly displaced again.
But that’s not happening.
So here’s an alternative strategy: Law enforcement should give businesses in these areas a special number to call or text that immediately triggers a police or sheriff response to returning dealers. Calling 911 or 311 has not worked.
The lack of a monitoring system reflects the SFPD’s broader strategic failure (See “Why SFPD Fails to Close Drug Markets,” June 26, 2023). I learned last week that while Chief Scott refuses to allow cops to walk beats in the Tenderloin or operate fixed posts, he’s assigned multiple officers to do precisely that at the Westfield Center.
Where Do Dealers Go?
The temporary clearing of drug markets led some to ask where the dealers went. Some likely returned to where they were before they were allowed to turn 8th and Mission, various blocks in the Tenderloin and other previously protected areas into open air drug markets.
For as long as I’ve worked in the Tenderloin (in my 41st fulltime year), most of those arrested for drug dealing live in Oakland. If pressure continues in San Francisco many dealers will shift to Oakland. They sold in the Tenderloin because City Hall long used the neighborhood as a drug containment zone.
When Supervisor Hilary Ronen claimed that increased dealing in the Mission was caused by dealers displaced from the Tenderloin she ignored that Tenderloin drug markets were booming. It’s a myth that closing a drug market in one part of San Francisco simply shifts it to another neighborhood. The Mission’s drug dealer and illegal vending is on top of what’s still happening elsewhere.
The explosion of dealers and users around UN Plaza and 7th and Mission and Market was driven by the opening of the failed Linkage Center. That undercover safe injection site did more damage to Mid-Market and the Civic Center than anything else. It served as a national invite for drug tourism. Yet some supervisors attack Mayor Breed for closing it!
Why Progress Now?
It’s taken time for new law enforcement resources to arrive. For example, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced on June 8 that he would provide officers but most only recently began their mission. They join increased officers from the California Highway Patrol, which has gotten high marks across the board from Tenderloin stakeholders. Park Rangers remain in UN Plaza, working longer hours. They clearly help during the day.
I realize it’s a low bar to applaud less than a week of closed drug markets. But it’s good to finally see progress. By ensuring consistency of enforcement and expanding the targets, San Francisco can stop drug cartels from wrecking the city’s economy and its quality of life.
Randy Shaw
Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s latest book is Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. He is the author of four prior books on activism, including The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century. He is also the author of The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco
