(a) There is a worsening epidemic of opioid addiction and use in San Francisco, as in other major U.S. cities.
(b) San Francisco’s Tenderloin police district (the “Tenderloin”) has the City’s highest rate of drug-related crime, including narcotics offenses and gun-related crimes frequently connected with drug offenses. The Tenderloin is also home to a high density of low- and middle-income families, including many families with children.
(c) The high rate of drug-related crime in the Tenderloin leads individuals and families that live, work, and attend school in the neighborhood to believe they face health and safety risks, including exposure to drugs, needles, human waste, uncontained refuse, and other hazardous materials that are left on sidewalks and streets. People who live, work, and attend school in the neighborhood have also expressed fear about exposure to drug sales and use, gunshots, physical assault and intimidation by individuals or groups engaged in illegal activity, and property crimes such as theft and damage to storefronts and vehicles.
(d) The prevalence of drug sales and use in the Tenderloin prompted the City to launch the Drug Market Agency Coordinated Command, led by the Police Department, to coordinate City, state, and federal resources to abate drug sales and use, and related criminal conduct, in the Tenderloin.
(e) Outdoor, public drug sales and use in the Tenderloin are common and cause particularly acute public health and safety risks late at night (including in the very early hours of the morning), when large groups gather in lighted areas adjacent to open retail food and tobacco businesses to engage in drug sales and use.
(f) Large gatherings of people engaged in drug sales and use are particularly prevalent in the area of the Tenderloin bounded to the north by O’Farrell Street, to the south by McAllister Street, to the east by Jones Street, and to the west by Polk Street (an area referred to in this Article 58 as the “Tenderloin Public Safety Area”). The Police Department has analyzed 2023 incident reports for narcotics crimes and other crimes frequently connected with drug activity in the Tenderloin, and determined that a relatively high concentration of these incidents between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. were reported in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area. The Police Department has also observed that, as compared with similar-sized areas in the City, including other areas in the Tenderloin, the Tenderloin Public Safety Area has the highest concentration of large groups engaged in drug sales and use in public, outdoor spaces during late night (which includes very early morning) hours.
(g) Large groups of people engaged in drug sales and use in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area generally form and congregate in the vicinity of retail businesses selling food and tobacco products that are open to the public during those hours. By being open so late, these retail food and tobacco establishments in effect facilitate the late nighttime drug market by providing a lighted gathering point for drug users and dealers, by enabling drug user and dealers to take cover indoors to avoid police patrols, and, in some cases, by selling tobacco, tobacco paraphernalia, and other retail goods used by people engaged in drug use and sales.
(h) The Police Department compared 2023 data regarding narcotics offenses and other serious crimes often connected with narcotics – including homicide, rape, robbery, assaults, and shootings – that occurred between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area with the same data from an area around Portsmouth Square in Chinatown. The selected Portsmouth Square area is equivalent to the Tenderloin Public Safety Area in size and in its combination of commercial and residential uses, but in contrast to the Tenderloin Public Safety Area, the Portsmouth Square area has few or no retail food and tobacco businesses open to the public late at night. The Police Department found that the rate of serious crime between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. was significantly higher in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area than in the Portsmouth Square area: Approximately 190 incidents of serious crime occurred in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. during 2023, as compared with approximately 30 such incidents in the targeted Portsmouth Square area.
(i) The gatherings of large groups engaged in drug activity late at night in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area present particular health and safety risks and give rise to feelings of insecurity and fear on the part of local residents. The large groups contribute to property crimes and violent crime in the area. They leave large amounts of debris on the streets and sidewalks, creating unsanitary conditions. Residents living closest to congregation points for these groups, especially seniors and families with children, have expressed that they are so anxious about the hostile conditions they encounter on neighborhood sidewalks that they feel fearful to walk outdoors during the nighttime and early morning hours, when they are likely to encounter these groups engaged in drug-related activity and the debris generated by the groups. Residents must move past and through these large crowds in order to access or leave their homes; they describe feeling threatened and unsafe.
(j) Large groups engaged in drug use and sales late at night also present serious challenges to effective law enforcement. Large groups are difficult for the police to control and pose safety risks for officers, as the people engaged in illegal activity typically outnumber police officers on patrol. It is more difficult for police officers to observe and document behavior by individuals that would establish the reasonable suspicion or probable cause required for officers to initiate enforcement actions when individuals engaged in criminal conduct are embedded in a large crowd. Individuals are easily lost or concealed in a crowd, particularly when the crowd is comprised of many people engaging in illegal activity. And proximity to open retail businesses enables individuals engaged in criminal activity to take cover inside the open retail business when a police patrol appears.
(k) The Office of the Mayor and the Police Department assert that barring retail food and tobacco establishments from being open to the public between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. is likely to yield public safety gains for local residents and visitors. Eliminating the nighttime safety problems is likely to increase the overall vibrancy of the Tenderloin, which could yield economic benefits to businesses impacted by the restriction on hours of operation.
(l) In spite of the Department of Health’s 2022 Overdose Prevention Plan, which commited to open multiple “Wellness Hubs” across San Francisco in various impacted neighborhoods to reach people who use drugs, provide overdose prevention services, and ultimately help improve street conditions in San Francisco, the City has not operated any such sites since the closure of the Tenderloin Center, in December 2022.
(m) Some businesses in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area, as of June 2024, have an active liquor license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), and are already highly regulated, required to close by 2:00 a.m., and required to adhere to strict operating standards as a condition of their license.
(n) The Office of the Mayor and the Police Department assert that the requirements imposed in this Article 58 are likely to improve public safety in the Tenderloin. This pilot program, prohibiting for two years retail food and tobacco establishments in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area from being open to the public between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., or between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. if they are ABC licensees, will enable the Police Department and certain other City departments to evaluate the effectiveness of this restriction in improving public safety in the Tenderloin. This will inform the judgment of the Police Department and policymakers as to next steps to take to maintain public safety in the Tenderloin.
(o) While the restrictions in Article 58 may affect some businesses and may result in some level of hardship for those businesses, the City, in reliance upon the judgment of the Police Department, has determined that the potential benefits of these restrictions outweigh the potential harms, as the restrictions are attempting to address the urgent needs and conditions that exist in the Tenderloin Public Safety Area.
(p) To ensure positive investment in the community during the pilot program, the City should ensure that community ambassadors, enhanced regular street and sidewalk cleaning, and trash pickup are prioritized within the Tenderloin Public Safety Area.
(q) This Article 58 is not intended to limit the enforcement of other laws and regulations by City departments, including but not limited to the City Attorney, Department of Public Health, Police Department, and Sheriff’s Office, to address the conditions noted herein, and any state or federal agencies and regulators with jurisdiction to address matters that arise within the Tenderloin Public Safety Area.
(r) The Board of Supervisors urges the Office of the Mayor, the Police Department, and other City departments, as applicable, to continue to undertake enforcement efforts during this pilot program against businesses that are engaged in conduct that is already illegal, including illegal onsite gambling, fraud, and health and safety violations.