San Francisco Sun

San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen announced a series of new measures to address illegal prostitution impacting Shotwell Street in the Mission neighborhood. These initiatives come out of a series of meetings City agencies have had with community members and are responsive to their requests.

These new strategies include barriers on Shotwell Street to prevent individuals from using their vehicles for prostitution, which also causes congestion and traffic issues, new public safety cameras, and the issuance of Dear John letters to help discourage the illegal behavior.

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has been enforcing laws and deploying strategies to combat the decades-long challenges associated with illegal prostitution around Shotwell Street in the Mission District. The SFPD has made 72 arrests in multiple enforcement operations in the last four months around Shotwell Street, a known corridor for illegal prostitution-related crimes.

SFPD patrol and plainclothes officers will continue prostitution enforcement operations in the Mission and hold individuals accountable for their actions who are coming into our neighborhoods to commit crimes and disturb the peace.

“By working with the community, we’ve developed solutions that will make the Mission safer for all,” said Mayor London Breed. “Our police officers will continue to enforce our laws, but these new strategies will help us build on that work and improve conditions in the neighborhood. This is part of our commitment to address significant challenges in the Mission neighborhood.”

"My office has given these neighbors and this issue a great deal of attention, and we have been working with City departments to come up with meaningful solutions, including outreach to sex workers to get them support and protections, and ultimately off the streets,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen. “Real solutions require collaboration and creative thinking to tackle this age-old issue, not frivolous legal action.”

New Strategies

The City, under the leadership of the Mayor’s Office, has been working with the community to develop additional strategies, including:

Barriers: City agencies, including SFMTA, will install and improve barriers along Shotwell Street similar to those installed on Capp Street.

Cameras: The City is working to install cameras that are highly visible to deter people from soliciting prostitution and related crimes. The cameras would also capture evidence for use in enforcement operations. These would be new public cameras authorized under Prop E.

Dear John Letters: The City is launching so-called “Dear John” letters and encouraging community members to submit tips about people engaging in solicitation or other prostitution activities. Based on circumstances, a warning letter will then be sent to the registered owner of a vehicle seen in a known area for prostitution activity. The primary objective is to discourage such behavior by notifying drivers they have been observed in the area. Additionally, others residing at the vehicle owner's address may become aware of the letter's content upon its arrival.

SFPD will continue enforcing laws by citing and arresting people engaged in prostitution-related activity.

"Illegal sex work degrades quality of life in our city, and it cannot be tolerated,” said SFPD Chief Bill Scott. “Our officers will continue enforcing laws as we implement new strategies and technology to deter this high-risk behavior. Strategies like Dear John letters have been effective in other jurisdictions at deterring people from engaging in this activity; we expect similar results here."

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