San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins addressed her reelection campaign, public safety and the city’s drug crisis at a recent gathering in the Mission District.
The district attorney took questions for about an hour from a moderator and some of about 50 people who attended the Thursday event at Manny’s. During the discussion, Jenkins took on residents’ sense of safety and the status of some of the city’s toughest problems.
“When I go around San Francisco and talk to people, they still have a lot of complaints and for very valid reasons,” said Jenkins, who is seeking reelection in this November’s general election.
Ryan Khojasteh, a deputy Alameda County district attorney, has also filed for candidacy in the race.
Jenkins assumed office in July 2022 by the appointment of Mayor London Breed, following the recall of former district attorney Chesa Boudin. Though she once worked in Boudin’s office, she resigned in October 2021, joining a growing number of residents who were dissatisfied with his office and its response to civilian angst surrounding crime.
Compared to the first quarter of 2023, violent crime dropped 14 percent and property crime dropped 32 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to a news release from the city.
It’s what people see
While data may point to a reduction in crime, Jenkins said, many residents are wary due to crime they see around them, which may include brazen property crime and drug use. After the discussion, Jenkins said she still believes voters will elect her for another term.
Jenkins also commented on the city’s drug and fentanyl crises, especially in the city’s Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.
“The fentanyl crisis, it’s swallowed everything,” said Precious Green, the event’s moderator and director of community at Manny’s. “It feels like every department in local government has to focus on this.”
“Seventy-five percent of (drug dealers) are still on the street. That’s a problem, so no you’re not going to see the supply drop.” Brooke Jenkins, San Francisco District Attorney
One attendee complained of the continued availability of illicit drugs in San Francisco. To date, Jenkins said, her office has arrested and charged more than one thousand drug dealers. In 2023 alone, her office said it filed about 850 felony narcotics cases. Nevertheless, she said, that still leaves plenty of drug dealers in San Francisco.
“Seventy-five percent of them are still on the street,” Jenkins said. “That’s a problem, so no you’re not going to see the supply drop.”
On the sentencing of drug dealers, Jenkins maintained that judges view dealing drugs, even fentanyl, as a “less serious” offense.
Dale Milfay, a self-described mental health advocate who attended the discussion, said it was “unfair” for Jenkins to pin judges for fentanyl dealing in the city. Milfay added that Jenkins did not speak sufficiently on her record and policies as district attorney.