Cops stormed Jefferson Square Park last week with motorbikes, drones, floodlights, zip ties, and a jail bus to make more than 80 arrests at San Francisco’s latest drug hot spot.
The high-profile raid marked a major shift in how city agencies respond to the continually evolving open-air markets, one praised by Mayor Daniel Lurie and other officials as an important step toward dismantling the drug trade.
“I want everyone to hear this,” Lurie wrote on X after the raid. “If you are selling drugs in this city, we are coming after you.”
However, arrest data, obtained by The Standard through a public records request, show that suspected dealers made up a tiny fraction of those who were arrested during the night-time raid. When asked if it was prosecuting any suspects for drug dealing, the district attorney’s office provided just one name.
Of the 85 people arrested, three were detained on drug dealing charges; of those, two were booked into jail and one was cited and released at the scene, according to the police department. As of Wednesday morning, one of those people remained in custody, according to Sheriff’s Department records.
However, none of those three will be charged with dealing, according to the district attorney’s office. The office said it is prosecuting another suspect, Wyatt Johnson, who was also arrested at the scene, with possession of drugs and intent to sell. Johnson is in custody.
In total, police booked 29 people into jail on charges that included having outstanding warrants, loitering with intent to engage in drug activity, and drug possession. As of Wednesday, seven remained in jail.
The majority of those arrested — 52 people — initially faced just one charge: loitering with the intent to commit a drug offense. The district attorney’s office said it is prosecuting 11 people with drug-related misdemeanors and two with felony and misdemeanor narcotics charges.
Lurie’s spokesperson Charles Lutvak argued that the raid was successful in sending a message to drug users and dealers, citing an improvement in conditions around the park.
“With 85 people booked or cited on drug-related charges and significantly improved conditions on the ground in Jefferson Square Park, it is clear last week’s operation was successful,” Lutvak said in a statement. “We will bring this strategy anywhere in the city to send the message loud and clear: San Franciscans deserve safe, clean streets, and that’s what they are going to get in every neighborhood under this administration.”
Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, whose district includes the park, defended the police action, reasoning that residents have since reported a clear improvement in the neighborhood. He has advocated for a “drug market intervention strategy” to deploy more unarmed night ambassadors and fund job programs for those involved in the drug trade.
“Even one drug dealer off the street is a huge win,” Mahmood said.
However, critics question the operation’s cost and argue that arrests have merely shifted the illegal market around the city over the past year.
Residents in the Mission have reported an increase in drug activity that they say has taken a dramatic toll on businesses. Meanwhile, the jail population has steadily increased since 2023, and the DA’s office has reported that its prosecutors are at capacity. The number of fatal overdoses in the city has increased monthly, from 37 in October to 59 in January, according to preliminary data from the chief medical examiner.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who represents the Mission, is calling for the city to implement a “four pillars” strategy that saw success in Zurich and hinges on collaboration between public health and law enforcement officials.
“We cannot continue to displace problems from one part of the city to another, or use one or two strategies when more are needed,” Fielder said in a press release this week.
In an Instagram post Tuesday, Lurie said the city wants to deploy more street teams.
“I’m seeing what our children have to see on their way to and from school every single day,” Lurie said in the video while standing at 16th and Mission streets. “We have to get tough on those who are dealing drugs. Those who are using drugs, we have to get off the street and into shelter beds, into mental health and drug treatment beds.”
Keith Humphreys, a Stanford professor who advised President Barrack Obama on drug policy, said the mass arrests will likely prove ineffective unless drug dealers face harsher consequences and the city develops a more comprehensive plan.
“What is the long game here?” Humphreys asked. “Making a lot of arrests is not a strategy.”
Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who represents residents living across the street from the park, said the number of drug dealing arrests doesn’t necessarily equate to the success of the operation.
“I don’t think anybody is planting a victory flag,” Sherrill said. “This is just the beginning.”