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Residents press commission on Broadway corridor: liquor-license saturation, party buses and quality-of-life crime
Summary
Multiple speakers at the Central District meeting thanked officers for outreach but urged tougher local input on liquor licenses, replenishing vice and narcotics capacity, and sustaining Broadway Corridor enforcement to curb prostitution, public intoxication and auto break-ins.
During the public-comment period at the Police Commission’s Central District meeting, residents and community groups voiced both praise and urgent concerns about neighborhood quality of life.
Speakers representing Chinatown community organizations, the Central Community Police Advisory Board (CPAB) and business associations commended Captain Garrett Tom for outreach to seniors and schools but said the neighborhood faces a saturation of liquor licenses and high levels of party-bus activity. Multiple commentators cited wholesale increases in on-sale liquor licenses in the Central District census tracts and urged the commission and department to give more weight to local station recommendations when the city's Alcoholic Beverage Control liaison (ALU) reviews new permits.
Public commenters and CPAP members also reported overt prostitution and visible drug dealing on Broadway, frequent public intoxication and aggressive panhandling, and a rising number of auto break-ins in tourist corridors. They asked the department to restore vice and narcotics resources, consider temporary staffing or lateral hires to bolster enforcement, and ensure permit decisions account for neighborhood public-safety impacts.
Community members asked for enforcement of parking-lot security plans and urged continued language-access outreach to isolated seniors (noting repeated “blessing-scam” outreach). Captain Tom, Deputy Chief Shin and Assistant DA Marissa Rodriguez responded that the department is coordinating with the DA’s office, hotel and business partners and that some targeted tactics — commercial inspection of party buses, additional foot beats and monthly coordination meetings — have reduced some harms on Broadway.
The commission noted the community’s request for more influence in permitting decisions and asked staff for follow-up briefings about ALU/AVC coordination, resource allocation and the effect of license density on public safety.
