Drug addicts fuel violent crime in spiraling San Francisco

Progressive policies in San Francisco, California, are fueling the drug crisis and continuing crime in the Democrat-run city.

Criminal lawyer Brian Claypool, owner and partner of the Claypool Law Firm, told Fox News Digital that the past decade of Democratic leadership has made San Francisco a “disaster.”

“San Francisco is a disaster because of the radical left Democratic leadership over the last decade,” he said, “with a very liberal mayor, prosecutors who don't prosecute criminals, a no-bail system.”

“[In California] “We have very lenient laws now when it comes to prosecuting homeless people and drug dealers,” he said.

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Claypool said Proposition 47 was the catalyst for San Francisco's deterioration. Signed into law in November 2014, the measure reclassified six minor offenses, including shoplifting and drug possession under $950, into misdemeanors.

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“Prop. 47 was a huge cause of crime, not just in San Francisco, but across the state,” he said, “because it convicted felons who were not previously considered dangerous. For example, fentanyl was classified as a dangerous drug before Prop. 47 was passed, but Prop. 47 forced criminal courts to reclassify these drug addicts as misdemeanors.”

“Why is that important? Because they [drug addicts] “The result is more homelessness,” he said.

Brian Claypool, Owner and Managing Partner of the Claypool Law Firm, spoke about the worsening crime and drug crisis in San Francisco, California. (Claypool Law Firm)

Claypool said homeless people have become more likely to commit robberies and violent crimes in what was once a California gem.

“Homeless people sit on the streets with nothing to do and nowhere to go,” he said, “and they turn to violent criminal activity because they need food or money, or because many of them know that if they get arrested, they won't go to jail.”

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“There are no real legal or criminal penalties for some of the violent and illegal acts that are committed by homeless people in San Francisco,” he said. “If there are no penalties for the behavior, it will continue.”

“In fact, I know a lot of police officers in both San Francisco and Los Angeles who don't arrest these people because they know they're going to get arrested, or they're going to get a minor charge, or they're going to be released without bail,” he said.

A homeless man stands on a sidewalk as the city battles a fentanyl problem in San Francisco, California, USA, February 26, 2024. (Photo credit: (Teyfan Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Claypool noted that the impacts of Proposition 47 and the widespread homelessness make violent crime even more difficult to solve.

“DNA samples are not being taken. Earlier, 15,000 DNA samples were taken a month, now only 5,000 samples are taken a month,” he said. “And this is important because it means fewer DNA samples can be taken to solve heinous crimes like rape, robbery, murder. Now these crimes are more difficult to solve.”

A homeless encampment in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, California, USA, August 28, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Claypool's comments add to a long list of complaints about crime, squalor, drug use and homelessness that have plagued the city for years, forcing some business owners, including popular stores like Old Navy, Nordstrom and Whole Foods, to close their doors due to the woes.

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In 2023, San Francisco surpassed 2020 as the deadliest year on record for drug overdose deaths. So far, 2024 is expected to continue to see San Francisco's death toll rise, with 412 drug overdose deaths reported so far. Latest coroner's report.

Of the 412 deaths, 27 were fentanyl-related.