Just after 10 a.m. on Monday, San Francisco police pulled up to the city’s new 24-hour sobering center at 444 Sixth St. and delivered a man in handcuffs.
He was the first person to be brought there instead of the hospital, or the county jail down the block.
One could call this man the first arrestee, client or patient. The “Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation, and Triage” center opened today despite concerns about its legality and conflicting answers from city officials regarding whether intoxicated people there would be free to leave.
A city attorney memo obtained by Mission Local in February flagged a “high risk” that a court would find the RESET center to be a “detention facility” which, by state law, would be required to meet certain standards that the center does not appear to meet.
A 24-hour police “drop-off” center is a goal Mayor Daniel Lurie has been touting since his inauguration day.
The first arrestee/client/patient emerged from the police car with his head down. One of the officers accompanying him held a plastic bag containing what looked to be a flannel blanket. Another filled out a form on a clipboard. Then they walked through the open entranceway of the $14 million converted warehouse on Sixth Street.
Inside, a dozen staff in sheriff’s deputy uniforms and nurses’ scrubs gathered around the man. Earlier, a deputy told Mission Local that the team had been expecting someone any minute, ready to offer what the deputy described as an “alternative to jail.”
It seemed as though law enforcement at the RESET center would not compel passersby to enter if they were not brought in by police. Half an hour before, a woman had staggered past the center. She was incoherent when this reporter spoke to her.
After being escorted through a metal detector, the man in handcuffs sat in one of the three plastic chairs placed next to a locker. A healthcare worker kneeled in front of him with a stethoscope.
According to Sheriff Paul Miyamoto and Lurie, the man will likely be released from custody in four to eight hours. Miyamoto’s attorney, Rani Singh, added that if someone sobers up more quickly and is able to take care of themselves, they could walk out soon after intake and assessment.
Ten minutes after the man was brought in, the crowd of staffers around him had mostly dispersed. They disappeared into the depths of the shotgun-style building, where 25 leather chairs waited for people to recline on as they sober up.
A man in a wheelchair watched the proceedings from the sidewalk outside. Some homeless people would be glad to go into a place like that just to have a place to sit, he said.
But he didn’t expect anyone to stay sober after leaving, even if they were dropped off there in handcuffs. “The city’s got so many places they can do that at,” the man said about receiving addiction treatment. “If they’re looking for it, they can find it.”
Earlier, he said, he’d watched workers paint the center slate grey, a similar color to the nearby jail building. “An alternative to jail?” he asked this reporter. “It’s jail, ain’t it?”
This article was updated with additional clarification from Rani Singh about the length of time a person might spend at the center.
It’s not a jail, but you can’t leave…
“It seemed as though law enforcement at the RESET center would not compel passersby to enter if they were not brought in by police.”
Um . . . what?
What about the 40 addicts on my block everyday for years ?
And that is the count only when I go and return .
Who knows how many there are actually are in a 24 period?
40 times 365 That is 14,560 persons seen just on one block
Myrtle between polk and larkin
Oh wait that is the lower polk street area and larkin The city runs this area as a containment zone
And the reset center is not for addicts from outside soma
City cannot get control here and yet promotes the reset center as the cure all?
It is time to call in the federal authorities to get control here .
The babysitting needs to end
So over sf games with the inability to enforce the laws
Tired of all the money and resources spent on the druggies
What about us and our quality of life safery and wellbeing?
“people could “technically” walk out immediately after intake, if they choose.”
Depends. People caught being drunk in public are generally detained for their own safety and to prevent distress to others. As such they would not be instantly released if their condition had not improved.
This mirrors those put in jail for being drunk. Typically they are released ROR in the morning. And are either not charged or the charge is later dropped. (Assuming no other crime was committed).
So this center is better. Partly because the drunk is not booked. And partly because conditions are better than in jail, where drunks just sleep it off but in a riskier and less supportive environment.
Yeah, that’s not gonna work long term. Folks often don’t respond well to ‘nice’ interventions.
“An alternative to jail?” he asked this reporter. “It’s jail, ain’t it?” No, it’s not. There are no plush leather recliners in the drunk tank. Do they keep people here long enough for them to face “dope sickness”, and are they prepared to deal with it?