Despite a new law that went into effect last fall, the SFPD has yet to issue any citations to illegal street vendors in the Mission this year, and residents say illegal activity is spreading to side streets.
Nearly five months after a new law passed authorizing police to cite people caught selling suspected stolen merchandise without permits or proof of purchase, city officials have yet to issue a single citation or fine, as the Chronicle reports. Only 16 warnings were issued from August 2025 through April, citywide.
According to KTVU, residents and merchants in the Mission, Mid-Market, and Chinatown say illegal vending markets continue to block sidewalks, fuel retail theft, and contribute to ongoing violence and disorder as they wait for stronger enforcement from the city.
Residents say that when the city clears illegal vendors near the 16th and 24th Street BART plazas and in the Tenderloin, they spread the activity further onto side streets and arrests alone are not solving the problem long term.
Neighbors near 20th and Capp streets say drug dealing and drug use have increasingly spread into residential blocks and around Alioto Mini Park, which Sergeant Brandon Rock of the Mission Corridor Task Force, acknowledged, while adding that enforcement for other offenses has increased.
"The neighborhood is far safer than it's been in a lot of time in history," Rock tells KTVU. "So the violence is not the issue that we once had, but the open drug-use and the dirtiness and the unsafe feeling sidewalks, I totally understand."
More than two dozen residents recently signed a letter calling for surveillance cameras, increased police presence, and a coordinated response to encampments and open-air drug activity.
"In the last month, we're part of the statistic, we've had our house broken into, not the first time, my wife was assaulted on the street, not the first time, and so it's really scary, it's to the point where she won't leave the house," said Mission resident Bryant Chu, speaking to KTVU. "Now we're seeing fentanyl users just folded down where they used to not be and they're just taking up a lot of the sidewalk space."
The new state law, authored by Senator Scott Wiener and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last fall, authorized San Francisco police officers to cite people caught selling suspected stolen merchandise without permits or proof of purchase. The legislation, which only applies to San Francisco, as Mission Local reported at the time, was meant to address limits created by a 2018 state law that decriminalized sidewalk vending.
The law took effect last December when the Board of Supervisors approved a list of more than 100 commonly stolen items that would be subject to enforcement, per the Chronicle.
Public Works and police officials said this week they are still working with the City Attorney’s Office to finalize how the law will be enforced and ensure it can withstand legal challenges.
Officials said the city has been building systems to track repeat offenders across agencies and preserve seized goods as evidence for possible criminal cases. Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon reportedly said the law has not yet been used but is expected to be implemented once those issues are resolved.
Enforcement powers still remain limited under the new law, as Public Works inspectors must first issue written warnings before police can intervene. Vendors accused of continuing to sell stolen goods can then face escalating fines for repeat violations within an 18-month period, while continued offenses could eventually lead to misdemeanor charges and up to six months in jail.
SFPD spokesperson Evan Sernoffsky said illegal vending remains a “top priority,” while
The Chronicle reports that starting next month, eight officers from other stations will be reassigned to the Mission to help address growing illegal vending and open-air drug activity, according to Mission Station Captain Sean Perdomo.
Previously: Scott Wiener Teams Up With Mayor Lurie on Proposed New Illegal Street Vending Law
Image: Joe Kukura/SFist
