Calling For An End To Tenderloin Violence

May 8 - KGO (KGO) -- In our collective minds San Francisco's Tenderloin is a neighborhood that resists change for the better; the homeless, a high crime rate, chock-a-block with ramshackle hotels. But, in fact, the neighborhood is highly diverse and some of its residents rallied today insisting they are the new Tenderloin and demanding an end to the old.

Bruce Gifford has lived in the Tenderloin off and on since 1972.

ABC7's Carolyn Tyler: "Do you feel vulnerable out here?"

Bruce Gifford, Tenderloin Resident: "Yes, ma'am I do. Yes, ma'am I do, and on several occasions if it weren't for friends I have out here, I might not be here doing this interview."

He is one of the dozens who marched through the Tenderloin today -- families, seniors, the disabled and the poor who call this crime-ridden neighborhood home. They paid tribute to recent victims and called for an end to the violence.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, in the past 90 days alone there have been four homicides, six forcible sex offenses, 113 robberies, 270 assaults and 875 drug crimes.

Some of the demonstrators believe the Tenderloin is a so-called containment zone, where city officials tolerate crime to prevent it from spreading to nicer neighborhoods.

Andre Williams, Tenderloin Resident: "Being safe should be a right instead of a privilege because you should be able to walk anywhere you need to walk without being harassed."

They want violence, pedestrian safety and drug dealing addressed. The head of the district police station says his officers are cracking down.

Capt. Gary Jiminez, SFPD: "Not only are we putting the maximum effort with all the personnel from Tenderloin police station but also from the gang task force, the tactical units coming in and giving us extra patrols, and also from narcotics."

The march comes as the mayor and supervisors here at city hall are at work on a new budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1st. The demonstrators are asking for $6.4 million for violence prevention programs.

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