At 1 a.m. last night, I joined SFPD for a ride-along and visited several police districts—Northern, Mission, and Tenderloin. I got a chance to see overnight street conditions firsthand, including Hayes Valley, 6th Street, and the Mission BART Plazas at 16th and 24th Streets. What I saw was clear: we still have more work to do. Addressing these conditions requires all of our city departments working together, through enforcement, street outreach, and street cleaning—so that every neighborhood gets the clean and safe streets it deserves.
While SFPD is short hundreds of officers, the midnight patrol is often the most challenging shift. I want to recognize the officers I met last night at Northern Police Station, and all of those doing the difficult work out in our neighborhoods every day.