An operation involving the San Francisco Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, and other agencies stormed Jefferson Square Park on Wednesday night, clearing out a public space that has become a haven for drugs and illegal vending.
Supervisor Stephen Sherrill’s office confirmed that several city departments conducted a large-scale operation to clear the Western Addition park of illegal activity.
Roughly 84 people were arrested, and about 60 were released at the scene, according to preliminary police data cited by a spokesperson for Sherrill’s office, who noted that those figures were not final. One person was treated for an overdose, fire officials said.
Cops were seen detaining people near the park in photos shared with The Standard. A Sheriff’s Department jail bus was also seen at the site.
“If you are selling drugs in this city, we are coming after you,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said Thursday morning on X.
A neighbor who spoke on the condition of anonymity saw two drones used during the operation, one projecting a bright light into the park.
“I hope people are being taken care of. But there should be something pushing them toward treatment,” said the person, who lives on Eddy Street near the park. “What I’m left with wondering is, Where did they take everybody?”
Sebastian Luke, who said he witnessed the operation, told The Standard by phone that people in the park ran from police toward the Tenderloin. He said the operation began around 10:30 p.m. and lasted until 1:30 a.m., when Public Works crews were spotted clearing debris from the park.
“They cleared out drug dealers and users around the planters in front of the Sacred Heart practice field and pushed them across the street next to the park to search and process them,” said Luke. “Residents around the park were out on their balconies and sidewalks to watch the raid. After they booked drug dealers and users, they put all of them on a bus and took them away toward Laguna Street.”
Six dogs and a fish were impounded during the raid, Animal Care & Control spokesperson Deb Campbell said. Information about the animals’ well-being was not immediately available.
Jefferson Square Park has become a hotbed for drug dealers after dark. The Standard recently visited the area and saw dealers hiding in the bushes as others lay slumped in nearby doorways.
“We’ve heard the community loud and clear — open-air drug markets are unacceptable, and people deserve to feel safe in their own neighborhoods. This operation is a direct response to those concerns and shows what’s possible when our city agencies work together to take decisive action,” Sherrill said.
Supervisor Bilal Mahmood said he was pleased by the inter-agency effort, but more investments need to be made to prevent the night market from moving to other parts of the city. Mahmood is urging his colleagues on the board to develop a new intervention strategy for drug markets, including funding 24/7 staffing for ambassadors and city officials addressing the crisis.
“We’re seeing success in certain neighborhoods, but we’re seeing displacement to other ones,” Mahmood said. “Right now, we’re focused on shutting down the markets and the immediate concern, and then looking at holistic solutions.”
Drug activity has picked up in the park and the Mission as police crack down in the Tenderloin, Civic Center, and Sixth Street, where the drug markets have been most visible and persistent.
Homelessness and harm reduction advocates have criticized the city’s use of law enforcement to break up drug markets and encampments, arguing that the strategy is expensive, ineffective, and causes harm to vulnerable people.
“That is going very overboard,” said Laura Guzman, executive director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, of the raid. “It’s very scary because these roundups start to feel like what Trump is doing with immigrants.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.