San Francisco Supervisor Calls for “Mass Arrests” and Compulsory Addiction Treatment in “Drug Jails”
In a letter of inquiry submitted on January 3, 2025, San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey (D) called for “mass arrests” of addicts and their incarceration in “drug jails,” where they would be forced to take medication assisted treatment (MAT). Dorsey had no recommendation for how to fund his plan, which calls for the arrest and detention of 100 public drug users every night. The combined City and County governments of San Francisco currently hold about 1,200 people in three jails with 1,585 total beds so Dorsey’s plan would overcrowd the lockups by the fourth night.
Also, the lockups are already overcrowded and face persistent guard shortages. Attacks on nine guards and seven other staffers forced Sheriff Paul Miyamoto to put the jails on lockdown on April 14, 2024. Pres. Ken Lomba of the San Francisco Deputy Sheriff’s Association (SFDSA), the guards’ union, called on then-Mayor London Breed (D) to deploy the California National Guard to bolster jail staffing. SFDSA critics suggested that chronic short-staffing was driven by union demands, which inflate guard paychecks with overtime. But one detainee, Zuri Wilson, 47, blamed “a new breed of inmate in here.”
“They don’t respect anything,” he said. “They are mentally unwell. Most of them are drug addicts. It’s total chaos.”
After the attacks, which left guards and staffers with injuries ranging from bites to dislocated shoulders to bloody eye sockets, eight detainees were charged: Cameron Davis, 30; Deandre Joubert, 26; Javares Singleton, 19; Jeffrey Walker, 60; Keshon Wilson, 23; Maia Tillman, 23; Paris Powell, 23; and William Powell, 52.
The jail lockdowns resulted in canceled visitation, programming and services. Jail 2’s lockdown ended on April 17, 2024, while Jail 3 reopened after an investigation into a detainee barricade that lasted two hours. Meanwhile, Breed lost her re-election bid in November 2024 to incoming Mayor Daniel Lurie (D). He named former San Francisco Police Department Cmdr. Paul Yep to oversee the jails from a newly created post, Chief of Public Safety.
Sources: KNTV, KTVU, Mission Local, San Francisco Standard
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