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by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/strong> August 26, 2025 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MissionPlazaCleanup_Hernandez02-780x520.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nRead Mission Local often?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Help grow our newsroom<\/strong>, joining the hundreds of San Franciscans who support us by giving below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donate today!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n New Tenderloin Police Station Captain Matt Sullivan said at a community meeting Tuesday evening that four San Francisco police officers will begin patrolling on foot next month in a new strategy to address street conditions in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sullivan said the officers will hit the pavement during the day and early evening in mid-September, and will connect with residents and business owners, break up groups of loiterers and address complaints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe main goal for them is to improve street conditions, so they\u2019re going back to basics,\u201d Sullivan said, to applause from the 25 or so residents attending the meeting at the Tenderloin Station on Eddy Street. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter<\/strong> below.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sullivan, who took over the Tenderloin police station last month, said the plan comes in response to the feedback he has heard from community members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe request was for officers to be more visible, to be seen, to be known,\u201d Sullivan said in an interview after the meeting. \u201cThe community thought that would be beneficial going forward, so we listened.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For now, the patrols\u2019 focus will be on three-block stretches on Hyde Street and Leavenworth Street between Golden Gate Avenue and Ellis Street, as well as the area of Jones and Market streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea of foot patrols appeared very popular at Tuesday\u2019s meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBringing foot beats to the Tenderloin was one of our main needs,\u201d said Stone Selseth, who is on the safety committee of the Central City SRO Collaborative and lives in one of the target areas at Market and Jones. \u201cSo we\u2019re going to have some good news to tell our cohorts.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Naomi Cohen, a tenant organizer who said she has lived in the Tenderloin for about 10 years, was disappointed that her block of O\u2019Farrell would not be part of the foot beat. Still, she called it \u201ca wonderful idea.\u201d She said she has rarely, if ever, seen police officers walking the neighborhood on foot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Multiple residents at the meeting said they were grateful for the changes they had already begun seeing since Sullivan took over a month ago. Last month, he told residents of another effort in the neighborhood to block off<\/a> different streets to vehicles for a few days at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That strategy, led by the multi-agency Drug Market Agency Coordination Center, is intended to eliminate cover for crime and unwanted activity that might be obscured by parked cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aaron Thomas, a Tenderloin resident, said that in the last month he has noticed officers exiting their cars to do police work. A block near his home that has long been home to open-air drug activity and noise has become less of a problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot less crime on that particular block,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI got some sleep this month.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas called foot patrols the \u201cmissing piece,\u201d after a year and a half of watching police officers remain in their vehicles and ineffectively scold people through loudspeakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing an officer on foot, he said, will be different. \u201cIt makes you recognize, \u2018I can\u2019t do this illegal thing here, at least as openly as I was doing.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The new police presence could lead to arrests, but Sullivan said the main goal was to improve street conditions through high visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want our foot beats to know the pulse of the community,\u201d Sullivan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We’re a small, independent, nonprofit newsroom<\/strong> that works hard to bring you news you can’t get elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2025, we have a lofty goal: 5,000 donors by the end of the year \u2014 more than double the number we had last year. We are 20 percent of the way there: Donate today and help us reach our goal!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Donate!<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n eleni@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reporting from the Tenderloin. Follow me on Twitter @miss_elenius.More by Eleni Balakrishnan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Residents praise new captain and his plan to go \u2018back to basics\u2019 by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN August 26, 2025 (MissionLocal.org) Read Mission Local often? Help grow our newsroom, joining the hundreds of San Franciscans who support us by giving below. Donate today! New Tenderloin Police Station Captain Matt Sullivan said at a community… Continue reading ![\"Mission](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/mission-local-logo-300x300.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMORE POLICE NEWS<\/mark><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"S.F.](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/MissionPlazaCleanup_Hernandez02-1200x900.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nS.F. police foot patrols are coming to these Tenderloin streets<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/25-091-Narcotics-Pic-800x600.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat S.F.\u2019s war on illegal drug markets looks like, one case at a time<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"S.F.\u2019s](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Screen-Shot-2022-09-09-at-4.42.44-PM-1200x900.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nS.F.\u2019s new strategy to get rid of drugs in the Tenderloin: Ban cars<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Support the Mission Local team<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n