Gov. Newsom calls on CHP, National Guard to combat San Francisco fentanyl crisis
SAN FRANCISCO -- Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday directed the California Highway Patrol and California National Guard to use their resources to assist San Francisco with its fentanyl trafficking crisis.
The Highway Patrol and National Guard will join the San Francisco police department and the district attorney's office to focus on dismantling fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the supply of the drug by "holding the operators of large-scale drug trafficking operations accountable," Newsom said in a statement.
"Two truths can co-exist at the same time," the governor said. "San Francisco's violent crime rate is below comparably sized cities like Jacksonville and Fort Worth-- and there is also more we must do to address public safety concerns, especially the fentanyl crisis."
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Without going into detail, Newsom said the highway patrol would help local law enforcement through technical assistance, training, and drug trafficking enforcement in key areas of the city, including the Tenderloin.
San Francisco has seen a 40 percent jump in overdose deaths from January through March of this year, Newsom's office said. Most were concentrated in or near the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.
The governor also directed the national guard to identify specialist personnel and resources to support analysis of drug trafficking operations, especially fentanyl rings.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed praised the multi-agency move on Friday in a statement.
"I want to thank Governor Newsom for this critical support to help break up the open-air drug dealing happening in our city," she said. "Our police department and district attorney have been partnering to tackle this issue and increase enforcement, but our local agencies could use more support."
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said he supports the effort.
"The Tenderloin's open-air drug markets are unsafe and unacceptable, and they need to be shut down," he said in a statement released on Friday. "For far too long, Tenderloin residents-- including many seniors, children, and people with disabilities-- have had to navigate sidewalk drug markets in their daily lives. They shouldn't have to do that."
But Wiener also called for solutions to the problem that do not involve law enforcement, such as increased treatment for addiction and the creation of safe consumption sites, where people can access addiction support services and more safely inject drugs, mitigating overdoses.
In August, Newsom vetoed a bill sponsored by Wiener that would have created a pilot program for safe injection sites in San Francisco.
"We are now awaiting long overdue legal guidance from the Biden Administration to allow San Francisco to open its first such site," said Wiener. "Taking on the crisis of overdose deaths will require more treatment, safe consumption sites, robust access to Narcan, and drug testing. We need an all-of-the-above approach."
In February, legislation backed by Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen to open the door for nonprofits to operate drug overdose prevention sites was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors. The sites must be privately funded, while the city waits for federal guidance on whether it can fund such programs with public dollars, the mayor said at the time.
Newsom on Friday said the partnership between agencies will not seek to criminalize those struggling with substance use and will instead hold drug suppliers and traffickers accountable.