President Trump's new top cop in the Bay Area announced a major initiative on Wednesday to clean up San Francisco's Tenderloin District.
The goal is to rid the streets of drug dealers, guns and human trafficking, said US Attorney David Anderson.
Anderson set his sights on the Tenderloin and Civic Center when he saw the open drug use and squalor on the streets during a visit to San Francisco.
He's launching the Federal Initiative for the Tenderloin as a 12-month project with involvement from 18 agencies.
“The Tenderloin, in fairness, deserves the rule of law every bit as much as every fine neighborhood in San Francisco,” said Anderson. “That’s the genesis of this program.”
The Feds plan to go after drug dealers and human traffickers, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Agent in Charge Chris Nielsen.
“We have seen, due in part to inaction, the apparent message of tolerance for drug trafficking. We in law enforcement are fighting to change this,” said Nielsen.
He announced the breakup of an Oakland ring that sends commuting dealers by BART and carpool into the Tenderloin.
“One could say that street-level drug dealing appears to have become normalized here in the Tenderloin,” said Nielsen. “But my law enforcement partners and I suspect most people in this community, reject the idea that it is acceptable for drug traffickers to prey on and profit from the vulnerable.”
There seems to be at least some public support for the law enforcement initiative. Randy Shaw, the longtime director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, came to the federal building to personally thank Anderson. Shaw told the DEA Agent that this kind of action is long overdue.
“I’m thrilled; it’s almost literally a miracle,” said Shaw. “The police administration and district attorneys have not cracked down on this. Someone is finally listening.”
Anderson said local law enforcement is aware of his plan, and he declined to say whether he's sending a broader political message that the Feds won't tolerate what San Francisco will.
“I can’t focus on every neighborhood in San Francisco," said Anderson, "I can focus on this neighborhood."