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Coalition tells Police Commission citations escalate homelessness; urges dispatch reforms and services
Summary
A coalition report presented to the San Francisco Police Commission urged shifting nonemergency calls away from police, reducing citations and expanding services, saying enforcement costs the city about $20.6 million annually and that many people displaced by enforcement return to the street.
The Coalition on Homelessness and academic partners told the Police Commission on Dec. 6 that repeated enforcement of quality-of-life laws is costly and ineffective and can increase people—s vulnerability. Presenters cited a coalition-backed analysis that projected roughly 10,800 quality-of-life citations this year, of which about 6,700 were classified as "anti-homeless" citations, and a budget-analyst estimate that enforcement costs the city about $20.6 million annually, 90 percent of which were borne by the police department.
"Policing is not the solution to homelessness," said Chris Herring, a Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley who coauthored the study. He summarized survey work of 351 people and interviews that showed…
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