The Sweeps in San Francisco

By Jay Paulino

The downfall of the city will occur if sweeps keep happening the way they are. There is harm, violent people, and danger out in the world everywhere, and police are ignoring the real Harm. Cops are supposed to be the ones protecting and serving, right? That’s not what it looks like now. 

There are many police in the system that have to be defunded because they are still killing and hurting us today. I see someone with a nosebleed and his head gushing blood; police just stay and ignore it. They call for unnecessary backup instead of an ambulance to address the real problem. This isn’t the only issue with police. It’s also the police brutality against Black/African American people, driven by racism.

As I’m walking with Tiny and Poor Magazine downtown in the City of San Francisco doing roofless Radio, the more I see houseless folks hurt. I see police ignore and keep wiping homeless people off the street.

Police sweep houseless folks every single day when there is no crime. Our Brothers and sisters are hurt every single day because they have to worry about where they rest their heads at night. Even if they do rest their heads, they have to worry about police taking their homes away at any time of day and throwing their belongings and life in the trash. In the Tenderloin, I have seen a lot and it showed me that there's more people out there looking for Poor Magazine to make this change a movement. Our Mayor London Breed has been following in the footsteps of the last mayor, and the more sweeps that occur, the more lives are lost to the violence of sweeps.