The hulking police RV and crew of officers now stationed at 16th and Mission may have cleaned up that one corner, but has moved new pockets of crime and drug bazaars to nearby small alleys, making life for residents there a newfound hell.
It was with great fanfare that the SFPD put their giant, RV-style Mobile Command Unit at 16th and Mission streets a couple weeks back, which has certainly deterred illegal street vendors from setting up shop, and therefore limits the amount of anything-goes drug chaos that pops up in such environments. But Mission Local has an eye-opening report today, suggesting that this police presence has moved the drug markets and mass-loitering to nearby alleyways, making life on those small streets worse than ever, according to those alleys’ residents.
One resident of the small alley Wiese Street between 15th and 16th streets acknowledged there’s always been some people crashing on that sidewalk for years, but these people did not engage in much illegal activity. “You wouldn’t even hear them,” that person said. “They had a fear of the police. They had a fear of waking the neighbors.”
“Now there’s adults hanging out there shooting up drugs,” according to that resident.
These days even the unhoused people say they’re scared of the dealers, and that they now stay away from the alleys of Wiese, Caledonia, and Hoff Streets, as well as Julian Avenue. Mission Local has some alarming photos of the state of Wiese Street and Caledonia Street, with residents of those alleys telling that outlet, “It’s hell every single hour of every single day,” and calling it “a drug carnival.”
At a Wednesday community meeting, SFPD Mission Station Captain Liza Johansen said the department has been doing more frequent sweeps of those alleys, but emphasized they can’t arrest anyone unless they witness a crime. Though Mission Local spoke to neighbors who’ve watched those sweeps, and they report of “seeing Wiese Street eerily empty one moment, after a sweep, then teaming with almost 50 people the next."
This may all be the unintended result of the Civic Center/UN Plaza crackdown just moving criminal activity to Sixth Street, and the Sixth Street cleanup efforts just moving the activity to 16th Street, and the new effort at 16th just pushing it to nearby alleys. And it’s a sign that maybe Mayor Lurie’s push to clean up SF streets is, as many predicting, not removing the crime and drugs, but just moving the crime and drugs somewhere else.
Related: SFPD Mobile Command Van Shifts to 16th & Mission [SFist]
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist
