Police car and emergency vehicle parked on a city street as people walk and gather in an urban plaza during daytime.
2:34 p.m.. 6/28, southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez

As visitors arrived at the 16th Street BART Station and headed to Dolores Park on Saturday for the Dyke March, another universe persisted on Mission Street. 

Unpermitted vendors on the commercial corridor still outnumbered drug users at 2 p.m.. But if past is prelude, that will change as the afternoon wears on.  No one talked about what the San Francisco Police Department announced earlier this week as San Francisco’s “largest one-day, fugitive-focused enforcement in recent history.” 

On Wednesday, 97 arrests were made, including 79 individuals with outstanding arrest warrants, according to a press release from the SFPD.

“During the arrests, officers located and seized a total of 16.5 g of suspected narcotics, including suspected fentanyl, cocaine base and methamphetamine,” the department said.

“We will continue to prioritize efforts to address the drug crisis in our city by taking wanted suspects off our streets and holding individuals who sell illegal narcotics accountable,” the press release stated.

The same evening the arrests were made, Mission Street was active with plenty of illegal narcotics, unpermitted vending and residents just trying to get through the crowds.   

A group of people stand and sit on a city sidewalk near a building, some with belongings and carts; one woman bends over, focusing on her hands.
5:50 p.m. 6/25, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez.
A city street at night with several people walking and standing near a sidewalk lined with litter, illuminated by streetlights and passing cars.
9:44 p.m. 6/26, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez.
A large group of people gathers on a city sidewalk at night near a bus stop and a building with graffiti and murals, under streetlights and string lights.
9:44 p.m. 6/26, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez.

On the upside, for the tenants and children who live or go to school on the block between 16th and 15th streets, the sidewalks were clearer – and cleaner – this week. By 5 p.m.,  however, that changed. And today, as it is every weekend, there was plenty of activity at 2 p.m.

Southwest plaza and west side of Mission Street

  • A police car and emergency vehicle are parked near a public square where several people are gathered; buildings and a mural are visible in the background.
    2:34 p.m.. 6/28, southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A group of people gather on a city sidewalk, some sorting through clothes on the ground, while others stand or sit nearby with bags and carts.
    2:00 p.m.. 6/28, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Several people are gathered outside a building entrance; one person sits slouched against a trash bin, while others stand or walk nearby on the sidewalk.
    2:01 p.m.. 6/28, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • People gather on a city sidewalk with tables and carts displaying various items for sale or exchange; buildings and palm trees are visible in the background.
    2:01 p.m.. 6/28, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Northeast Plaza and east side of Mission Street

  • People walk along a city sidewalk next to a colorful graffiti-covered wall on a sunny day. One person stands near the wall with a scooter.
    2:31 p.m.. 6/28, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A man walks through a city plaza with graffiti-covered walls, while several people gather or sit nearby on a sunny day.
    2:31 p.m.. 6/28, northeast plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Caledonia Street

  • A narrow alley with graffiti-covered walls, a white truck parked, two people standing beside it, and another person sitting on the ground farther down.
    2:08 p.m.. 6/28, Caledonia Street looking south from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A group of people gather in the shade of an alley between brick and painted buildings; a one-way street sign is visible in the foreground.
    2:08 p.m.. 6/28, Caledonia Street looking north from 15th Street. A worker from the Gubbio project is visiting with a gentleman who lives on the street and is a regular in their programs. Photo by Lydia Chávez

Julian Avenue

  • Two people stand and sit against a building on a city sidewalk; parked cars line the street, and trees cast shadows on the pavement.
    1:51 p.m.. 6/28, Julian Avenue, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A person walks down a city sidewalk near parked cars, while two others stand by a pole under a hotel sign on a sunny day.
    1:51 p.m.. 6/28, Julian Avenue, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Wiese Street

  • Two people stand near a box on a cart in a narrow city alleyway lined with metal barricades and colorful buildings under a clear sky.
    1:54 p.m.. 6/28, Wiese Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A narrow urban alley with people sitting along the right wall, one person lying on the left, and graffiti visible on the sidewalk and walls.
    2:07 p.m.. 6/28, Wiese Street looking south from 15th Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Capp Street

  • A city sidewalk with a row of parked cars, an orange building on the left, a utility box in the foreground, and a "No Parking" sign ahead under a clear blue sky.
    2:33 p.m.. 6/28, Capp Street looking north from 16th is always clear, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • People sit and lie on a city sidewalk near a building with graffiti, while cars are parked along the street under a handicapped parking sign.
    2:33 p.m.. 6/28, Capp Street looking south from 16th is never clear, Photo by Lydia Chávez

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I’ve been a Mission resident since 1998 and a professor emeritus at Berkeley’s J-school since 2019. I got my start in newspapers at the Albuquerque Tribune in the city where I was born and raised. Like many local news outlets, The Tribune no longer exists. I left daily newspapers after working at The New York Times for the business, foreign and city desks. Lucky for all of us, it is still here.

As an old friend once pointed out, local has long been in my bones. My Master’s Project at Columbia, later published in New York Magazine, was on New York City’s experiment in community boards.

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7 Comments

  1. Thanks for reporting

    This is further evidence that more law enforcement is necessary

    24/7 police , drones , drug sniffing dogs and cameras are needed

    Also the penalty is not enough

    Until the drug supply is stopped , the dealers will keep selling illegal poisons to impaired people

    Addicts are addicts

    Tired of this game and seeing people rot on the streets .

    Cruel and not ok.

    By now this mess should be picked up

    Why sf tolerates this is sick.

    I thought people here cared

    They just enable the self destruction and harm .
    Really sad

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  2. I was able to experience 16th, 15th & 14th and Mission over the weekend. It’s complete chaos. It’s clear many of the problems and challenges from the Tenderloin, 8th & Mission and other locations have been moved to these areas (whac-a-mole). I suppose if the police presence (a big vehicle) is to keep one entrance to the Bart station free of the chaos, then it’s working. All else is broken. I would hope, and maybe she is, that the Supervisor Fielder is actively pressing the mayor to help with a solution? The good people of the Mission deserve better.

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  3. There is no enforcement, only coddling. I agree with other commenters that this has become the new Containment Zone. I miss Winos, Hobos, and Hippie bums. These new Sackler Family-spawned opiate ghouls are useless and in most cases, beyond repair. Yet they are allowed to have dogs. So sad. For the dogs. Humans I have lost empathy for, I’m afraid.

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  7. A lot of us have been concerned about the state of the city, but just don’t think draconian measures are desirable, or effective in the long term.

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