San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has a Super Bowl message for homeless people who are camping along the Embarcadero: “They are going to have to leave.”
“We’ll give you an alternative,” Lee said when he was asked whether the sidewalk sleepers will have to go before San Francisco plays host to the thousands in town for the Super Bowl in February. “We are always going to be supportive. But you are going to have to leave the street. Not just because it is illegal, but because it is dangerous.”
The idea is to house street campers either in the city’s new Navigation Center in the Mission — where people can live while they are routed into housing, rehabilitation, employment and other services — or in an estimated 500 units of supportive housing the mayor hopes to have rehabbed and open by the end of the year.
“Some of them are mentally ill. Some of them have severe drug addiction,” Lee said of those sleeping on the street. “They get cleaned up for 24 hours, and then they are back on the environment that caused this in the first place.”
Police Chief Greg Suhr said the message is already being delivered, not just around Justin Herman Plaza, where the entertainment and broadcast “Super Bowl City” will be located, but citywide as well.
“We are trying to get people into the shelters now,” Suhr said. And not only for the Super Bowl, but also for the coming of El Niño, which the chief said could bring a rough winter and the threat of homeless people dying from exposure.
It hasn’t escaped the city’s notice, Suhr said, that one of the biggest hot spots for encampments is along the Embarcadero and other streets and alleys off the foot of Market Street — where some 1 million people are expected to visit for 10 days of public parties leading up to the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 7.
Lee has been saying for months that sidewalk camping is unacceptable. And for just as long, police and San Francisco public works employees have gone out, cleaned up the camps and — as often as not — seen the homeless return within hours.
Lee remained elusive on what would happen if the homeless say “no” to the shelter offer leading up to the Super Bowl party.
Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the mayor’s hope for getting a major portion of the homeless population under a roof by February is unrealistic.
“The Navigation Center is already operating at capacity, and the 500 units of housing that he is talking about should be full by then,” Friedenbach said. “It would be outrageous to hold them in reserve for any event.”
She also noted that the Super Bowl City will be free to the public — which means everyone and anyone has the right to attend.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Create some kind of gate where you look at people and decide who can come in and who can’t?”
Berkeley 911: UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennett could have saved herself a lot of embarrassment and an administrative review if she had paid attention to the signs posted throughout the East Bay waterfront park where her loaded SIG Sauer P239 handgun was stolen out of her car.
The signs at Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond read: “Prevent car break-ins. Do not leave valuables in your vehicle.”
Now, UC Berkeley officials say they have asked the University of California Council of Chiefs — the association representing all the police chiefs in the UC system — to review police policies and the circumstances surrounding the theft to see if there was any misconduct or lapse of judgment on Bennett’s part.
“Any outcome will depend on that review,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday.
With every police agency in California urging motorists not to leave valuables out for thieves to steal, Bennett apparently did just that — leaving a zipped bag with her loaded gun, badge, ammunition, laptop, iPad, cell phone and diamond ring unsecured in the back of her unmarked police SUV while she went jogging Friday morning at the shoreline park.
East Bay Regional Park District spokeswoman Carolyn Jones said break-ins at Point Isabel are a sad but common experience for visitors.
“Generally at least a couple a week get reported” at Point Isabel and other East Bay shoreline parks down toward Berkeley, Jones said.
The loss of the chief’s gun comes weeks after a gun stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management agent’s car in downtown San Francisco was allegedly used to shoot and kill Kathryn Steinle on Pier 14.
According to UC police, in Bennett’s case, the bag with the gun was in the back of her 2014 Ford Escape, which has tinted windows. The doors were locked.
Bennett returned from her run about 8:15 a.m. to find her left rear window smashed.
While declining to provide specifics, park officials tell us they are pursuing a couple of leads. The parking lot does not have security cameras.
Law enforcement officials tell us they are unaware of any state regulations or guidelines for the transport or safekeeping of officers’ weapons while they are off duty.
Bennett did not take our call for comment, but UC Berkeley police Lt. Marc DeCoulode, a spokesman for the department, said, “There is no policy violation in this matter.”
Maybe just a violation of common sense.
“We’ll give you an alternative,” Lee said when he was asked whether the sidewalk sleepers will have to go before San Francisco plays host to the thousands in town for the Super Bowl in February. “We are always going to be supportive. But you are going to have to leave the street. Not just because it is illegal, but because it is dangerous.”
The idea is to house street campers either in the city’s new Navigation Center in the Mission — where people can live while they are routed into housing, rehabilitation, employment and other services — or in an estimated 500 units of supportive housing the mayor hopes to have rehabbed and open by the end of the year.
“Some of them are mentally ill. Some of them have severe drug addiction,” Lee said of those sleeping on the street. “They get cleaned up for 24 hours, and then they are back on the environment that caused this in the first place.”
Police Chief Greg Suhr said the message is already being delivered, not just around Justin Herman Plaza, where the entertainment and broadcast “Super Bowl City” will be located, but citywide as well.
“We are trying to get people into the shelters now,” Suhr said. And not only for the Super Bowl, but also for the coming of El Niño, which the chief said could bring a rough winter and the threat of homeless people dying from exposure.
It hasn’t escaped the city’s notice, Suhr said, that one of the biggest hot spots for encampments is along the Embarcadero and other streets and alleys off the foot of Market Street — where some 1 million people are expected to visit for 10 days of public parties leading up to the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 7.
Lee has been saying for months that sidewalk camping is unacceptable. And for just as long, police and San Francisco public works employees have gone out, cleaned up the camps and — as often as not — seen the homeless return within hours.
Lee remained elusive on what would happen if the homeless say “no” to the shelter offer leading up to the Super Bowl party.
Jennifer Friedenbach, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, said the mayor’s hope for getting a major portion of the homeless population under a roof by February is unrealistic.
“The Navigation Center is already operating at capacity, and the 500 units of housing that he is talking about should be full by then,” Friedenbach said. “It would be outrageous to hold them in reserve for any event.”
She also noted that the Super Bowl City will be free to the public — which means everyone and anyone has the right to attend.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Create some kind of gate where you look at people and decide who can come in and who can’t?”
Berkeley 911: UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennett could have saved herself a lot of embarrassment and an administrative review if she had paid attention to the signs posted throughout the East Bay waterfront park where her loaded SIG Sauer P239 handgun was stolen out of her car.
The signs at Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond read: “Prevent car break-ins. Do not leave valuables in your vehicle.”
Now, UC Berkeley officials say they have asked the University of California Council of Chiefs — the association representing all the police chiefs in the UC system — to review police policies and the circumstances surrounding the theft to see if there was any misconduct or lapse of judgment on Bennett’s part.
“Any outcome will depend on that review,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday.
With every police agency in California urging motorists not to leave valuables out for thieves to steal, Bennett apparently did just that — leaving a zipped bag with her loaded gun, badge, ammunition, laptop, iPad, cell phone and diamond ring unsecured in the back of her unmarked police SUV while she went jogging Friday morning at the shoreline park.
East Bay Regional Park District spokeswoman Carolyn Jones said break-ins at Point Isabel are a sad but common experience for visitors.
“Generally at least a couple a week get reported” at Point Isabel and other East Bay shoreline parks down toward Berkeley, Jones said.
The loss of the chief’s gun comes weeks after a gun stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management agent’s car in downtown San Francisco was allegedly used to shoot and kill Kathryn Steinle on Pier 14.
According to UC police, in Bennett’s case, the bag with the gun was in the back of her 2014 Ford Escape, which has tinted windows. The doors were locked.
Bennett returned from her run about 8:15 a.m. to find her left rear window smashed.
While declining to provide specifics, park officials tell us they are pursuing a couple of leads. The parking lot does not have security cameras.
Law enforcement officials tell us they are unaware of any state regulations or guidelines for the transport or safekeeping of officers’ weapons while they are off duty.
Bennett did not take our call for comment, but UC Berkeley police Lt. Marc DeCoulode, a spokesman for the department, said, “There is no policy violation in this matter.”
Maybe just a violation of common sense.
