SF Tenderloin resident documents daily life, crime incidents on social media; 'It's crazy'
A longtime resident of San Francisco's Tenderloin District has made it his mission to document life in the beleaguered neighborhood, in the hope that police and city officials can gain a better understanding of what people living there face on a daily basis.
John has lived in the Tenderloin for more than 30 years and says he's never seen things as bad as they are right now.
"This is just normal. We see this stuff all the time," said John, who asked us to conceal his identity. "I've become so accustomed to it, I don't even think about the fact that it's not right sometimes. It's crazy."
Just this past weekend, John caught a shooting on one of the many security cameras he has set up outside his home. In it, you can see a man shooting a gun multiple times in the middle of an intersection as people and cars go by.
"There was an initial shot fired from the other direction and then he just went off and just started firing back like wild, wild, west," said John. "It was just madness."
John says he and his neighbors call the police constantly to report the violence and drug dealing that plagues their block day and night.
He says the police do come to investigate but the dealers just hid out until they're gone.
"They're smart. the dealers are smart, these people are smart, they move around, they come back and it continues on," said John.
That's why John decided to take things into his own hands. For a while now he's been documenting all of the drug dealing and crime on his block, posting videos on social media under the handle Tenderloin Tube.
He says his goal is to show people the reality of what's going on in the hopes that city officials and others will do something to stop it.
"I know it's complicated and I know everybody has an opinion on what should be done. I don't think enabling people with doing drugs is helping" said John. "There's so many factors, there's getting the people who are using the drugs the help they need. There's getting the people who are selling the drugs. We have to be out there. You have to address these issues."
John says until these issues are solved he will continue to post videos of what's going on in the Tenderloin online. He wants everyone, especially those who don't live in the neighborhood, to witness what's happening so they can't turn a blind eye.
'We are all just begging for someone to listen to us and to just be more consistent and to follow through," he said.