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Monday, October 7
San Francisco Mayor Declares State of Emergency for Drug Overdose
The Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, declared the Friday the state of emergency for drug use in the neighborhood of Tenderloin, according to ABC 7.
The mayor said that more than 700 people have died from overdoses in San Francisco in the past year.
Statement applies to areas within the Tenderloin Police District and will allow the city to accelerate programs, including repeal of hiring and zoning rules for a temporary liaison center to help people affected by the opioid crisis to access the services of behavioral health and other resources.
“The situation in Tenderloin is an emergency and requires a response from emergency, “Breed said in a statement. “We demonstrated during COVID that when we can use an Emergency Declaration to remove red tape and barriers that stand in the way of decisive action, we can get things done and make real, tangible progress.”
Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said that drug overdoses kill more than two people a day in San Francisco, primarily in the Tenderloin and SoMa neighborhoods.
“We need an emergency response for drug overdoses, with immediate and rapid intervention in case of crisis, outreach and coordination in our streets, with expanded treatment and detoxification ”, said Haney . “We have to act now with everything we have to save lives. This official emergency declaration will give us the tools we need to respond with the required speed and scale. ”
The drug overdose emergency declaration Friday in San Francisco is part of Tenderloin’s Emergency Intervention plan to improve neighborhood health and safety.
The first phase included definition of critical issues, neighborhood assessment, and community stakeholder engagement, along with infrastructure improvements and targeted enforcement interventions.
The second phase began this week and will focus on connections to health and social services, a coordinated law enforcement response and optimized infrastructure improvements.
The third phase will focus on the transition from emergency measures to sustained operations.
The Emergency Declaration must be ratified by the Board of Supervisors within the next seven days and will exist for no more than 90 days, the mayor’s office said.
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