Pedestrians stroll alongside the sting of a sidewalk to keep away from tents and sleeping luggage, on April 13, 2020, within the tenderloin space of San Francisco.

Ben Margot/AP

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Ben Margot/AP

Pedestrians stroll alongside the sting of a sidewalk to keep away from tents and sleeping luggage, on April 13, 2020, within the tenderloin space of San Francisco.

Ben Margot/AP

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is directing the California Freeway Patrol and Nationwide Guard to help San Francisco authorities in combating the fentanyl disaster within the metropolis.

The 2 businesses shall be partnering with the native police division and the district legal professional’s workplace to try to stem trafficking of the lethal artificial opioid.

“Two truths can co-exist on the identical time: San Francisco’s violent crime charge is beneath comparably sized cities like Jacksonville and Fort Value — and there may be additionally extra we should do to handle public security issues, particularly the fentanyl disaster,” Newsom mentioned in a press assertion on Friday.

The 4 businesses are anticipated to “crack down” on crimes linked to fentanyl and enhance legislation enforcement presence in public areas. Nonetheless, Newsom’s workplace vowed that the operation is not going to goal these with drug addictions and as a substitute deal with drug suppliers and traffickers.

CHP will help native police in drug trafficking enforcement in key areas of town, together with the Tenderloin district, the place Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in December 2021 over crime and drug overdoses.

In the meantime, the California Nationwide Guard will provide help in analyzing drug operations, with a selected deal with fentanyl trafficking rings.

Newsom’s announcement didn’t embody particulars on the variety of personnel concerned, funding and what enforcement will appear like. The governor’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for a remark.

The multiagency effort comes as San Francisco grapples with an alarming rise in deaths linked to fentanyl, a drug identified for being stronger and lethal than heroin.

In 2021, 474 individuals died from fentanyl-related overdoses within the metropolis. Between January and March of this yr, 200 individuals died from unintentional drug overdoses, with a overwhelming majority of deaths involving the artificial opioid, in line with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Matt Dorsey, a San Francisco supervisor, thanked Newsom on Twitter for offering town “much-needed state sources to disrupt, dismantle and deter brazen open-air drug markets.”

State Sen. Scott Wiener mentioned he additionally welcomed the coordinated effort, but in addition famous that the governor vetoed his laws to create a pilot program for protected consumption websites within the metropolis, the San Francisco Customary reported.