Written by by Evan Symon at californiaglobe.com
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Friday that the CHP has seized more than 40 pounds of fentanyl in the approximately 10-block radius of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood since the CHP first began an increased patrol there in May.
For decades, San Francisco’s Tenderloin District has been one of the city’s main hubs for crime and drug usage. In recent years, the district’s negative profile has only been exacerbated by large increases of drug-related deaths, homeless issues, more cases of fentanyl overdoses, and other surrounding problems as well. The city, under Mayor London Breed, pushed more resources into improving the area, but with only mixed results.
With local efforts failing, Governor Newsom directed the CHP to help out in the district in April, with CHP operations there beginning on May 1st. According to the agreement, the CHP and CalGuard started working with the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA) to assist the city in its ongoing efforts to address the fentanyl crisis. All four also became part of a new operation charged with dismantling the trafficking of fentanyl and disrupting the supply of fentanyl by directly holding drug trafficking groups responsible. In addition, the CHP began working with the SFPD in fentanyl enforcement in areas with a high number of drug crimes, most notably in the Tenderloin District, as well as giving technical assistance and training.