San Francisco Sun

San Francisco – Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to officially request that the Department of Justice designate San Francisco for its Operation Overdrive initiative.  This designation is an important step to unlock enhanced federal resources for San Francisco to combat fentanyl trafficking by drug cartels, which is causing overdose deaths and violent crime.

“My constituents have a strong sense of community and the overall safety in our City, but have expressed to me specific concern about the fentanyl crisis,” Speaker Emerita Pelosi wrote in a letter to Attorney General Garland.  “In that regard, I am writing to request a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco.”

Speaker Emerita Pelosi continued: “Time is of the essence. People are dying from fentanyl and violence. We hope to hear soon about a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco to combat the cartels.” 

According to the Justice Department, Operation Overdrive is “a data-driven approach using national crime statistics and CDC data to identify hot spots of drug-related violence and overdose deaths across the country, in order to devote its law enforcement resources to where they will have the most impact: the communities where criminal drug networks are causing the most harm.”  Read more about Operation Overdrive in a Department of Justice press release here and fact sheet here.

Below is the text of the letter:

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Dear Attorney General Garland:

Thank you for your leadership to promote justice and safety in our Country. It was especially encouraging to see the priority placed on fighting fentanyl, especially considering the challenge we face in San Francisco. In that regard, I am writing to request a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco.

On March 14, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco provided the opportunity for an extensive discussion with the DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. Administrator Milgram indicated that San Francisco might be an appropriate location for the implementation of Operation Overdrive and suggested a meeting with DEA Special Agent in Charge for the Northern District Brian Clark. Agent Clark emphasized that a data driven, whole community approach was needed to reduce the sale of fentanyl and the violence related to it. It is our understanding that Operation Overdrive has had some level of success in Florida and Pennsylvania and has been implemented to a certain extent in Oakland.

I would not have requested further federal intervention without the support of local authorities, particularly San Francisco Mayor London Breed. We also knew that we needed a U.S. Attorney assigned to our region to proceed. We were pleased that, due to the leadership of Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ismail Ramsey was confirmed and recently sworn in.

On April 6, I met with U.S. Attorney Ramsey and on April 12, he met with Mayor Breed. Prior to those meetings, in a March 27 letter, Mayor Breed stated: “We need additional support from the Department of Justice.”  We are anticipating a follow up meeting soon with U.S. Attorney Ramsey and DEA Special Agent in Charge Clark in regard to federal support to deter drug trafficking to ensure public safety.

Mr. Attorney General, this request is urgent. My constituents have a strong sense of community and the overall safety in our City, but have expressed to me specific concern about the fentanyl crisis. While our City has an ongoing and increasingly robust public health response, we need law enforcement targeted at the cartels, who are brazen in certain neighborhoods. For example, even in front of the Federal Buildings, they are impeding access to Social Security benefits assistance and other federal services.

With the action taken by Mayor London Breed, then by Governor Gavin Newsom calling on the National Guard and Highway Patrol, the active involvement of local officials and law enforcement, and the participation of our communities and residents in the area, we have collaboration to provide a whole of government approach.

Time is of the essence. People are dying from fentanyl and violence. We hope to hear soon about a designation of Operation Overdrive for San Francisco to combat the cartels.

Many thanks for the consideration of the Department of Justice of this request.

Sincerely,

NANCY PELOSI

Speaker Emerita of the House

Original source can be found here