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‘Worse than Afghanistan’: San Francisco mayor asks for $63M to bolster police amid growing crime

June 4, 2023 | | Print Article

San Francisco is in trouble, and Mayor London Breed knows it.

In her budget request for the upcoming 2023-24 fiscal year, Breed is calling for a $63 million increase in spending for the city’s police.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the spending hike for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) marks a 9% increase from last year. Another $11 million will be allocated for the department next year “as Breed looks to hire more officers, fund overtime and pay for higher salaries negotiated under a new union contract,” the outlet reports.

As BizPac Review has reported, businesses are fleeing San Francisco as drugs, the homeless, and unfettered crime continues to soar.

Ground zero for the crisis is the city’s Tenderloin district, which one resident described as “post-apocalyptic.”

“It really feels post-apocalyptic,” Seema Gokhale told Fox News Digital. “Something needs to be done. We have to make this a livable place. I describe it as a hellhole right now. If I wasn’t a homeowner and hadn’t grown up in the area and there wasn’t a strong job market in the area, I would leave.”

Following a visit to the Tenderloin in April, progressive Governor Gavin Newsom made a decidedly un-progressive move and announced that he’s calling in the National Guard to “assist the city in its ongoing efforts to address the fentanyl crisis.”

During a surprise show in the city, even comedian Dave Chappelle wondered, “What the f**k happened to this place?”


Zaid is the co-owner of Cigarettes R Cheaper in San Francisco’s Richmond District.

He immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan in 1987, and he says the situation in the city is “worse than Afghanistan or Iraq.”

On Wednesday at roughly 2:44 a.m., police arrived at Zaid’s store and “observed the window to the business shattered and items from the business strewn about the scene,” SFPD told Fox News Digital.


(Video: Fox News Digital)

A gang of seven thieves had ransacked Zaid’s shop and absconded with approximately $80,000 in merchandise and $20,000 in cash.

“The politicians need to get a grip on this because it’s worse than Afghanistan or Iraq,” Zaid told Fox News Digital. “At least in Afghanistan the Taliban will cut your hand off and people are afraid to commit such a crime.”

The desperate store owner noted that seeing thieves steal from stores is a daily occurrence.

“They know the police won’t do anything,” he stated.

According to Zaid, the police told him they are short-handed.

No arrests had been made at the time of the report.

“We have drugs issue, we have homeless issue, and on top of this these idiots come in here and take whatever they want,” Zaid said.

“The city has gone downhill, especially the last 2 years since COVID, I’ve never seen it worse,” he continued. “People are afraid to come shopping here because they are either going to get robbed or someone will break into their car.”

Like the many businesses that are shutting their San Francisco doors, Zaid says he will have to close up shop if things don’t quickly improve.

“We might have to shut it down,” he said. “Our safety is more important than making a living in this city.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Breed’s “record high” proposal for the city and county budget is $14.6 billion “for each of the next two fiscal years, up 4% from the previous year’s $14 billion budget.”

“The new spending plan comes as the city faces a two-year deficit of $780 million,” The Chronicle reports, “and after the Mayor requested department heads to propose spending cuts of about 10% each year to close the deficit.”

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Melissa Fine
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