Recurrence
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/cartoon/recurrence/
THECOCONUTWHISPERER. General News and Conservative Politics. Strictly no Anti-Semitism, Nazism, Communism, Racism, or Conspiracy Theories including Anti-Vax & 911 conspiracies. Email : Admin_News@mail2world.com
Friday, 28 January 2022
Political cartoon of the day: Left of the Border
Left of the Border
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cartoons-slideshow
When you need lunch money
Sout Africa: When the Goverment needs Lunch Mo0ney
https://dailyfriend.co.za/2022/01/28/when-you-need-lunch-money/
Thursday, 27 January 2022
Cameroon: The corrupt and brutal Central African state is run by five men — with support from the United Kingdom
DECLASSIFIED UK
Cameroon: The corrupt and brutal Central African state is run by five men — with support from the United Kingdom
President Paul
Biya (88) is Africa’s oldest dictator. New evidence reveals how
British
soldiers help him keep control of Cameroon and train
his forces
accused of torture, executing children and burning buildings.
President Paul Biya (88) is Africa’s oldest dictator. New evidence reveals how
British
soldiers help him keep control of Cameroon and train
his forces
accused of torture, executing children and burning buildings.
- Declassified obtains papers exposing UK covert military role in the African police state
- British special forces officer has drafted a “crisis management” doctrine for Cameroon’s dictator
- UK military adviser has close relations with Biya’s right-hand man and spy chief
British diplomats believe Cameroon, a country with 27 million inhabitants, is run by just five men and that there is “extensive corruption”.
At the top is President Biya, who has ruled the Central African state with an iron fist for nearly 40 years. Now in his late 80s, he governs mostly from a luxury hotel in Switzerland.
But Britain supports his regime and conducted six secret counter-terrorism operations in Cameroon last year, it can be revealed.
They have code names like Cylix, Bacchus and Abbadide.
Most of the operations involved training and “capacity building” for troops tackling the Boko Haram and Islamic State groups.
This included UK activity at a barracks in Cameroon’s far north, Salak, where Amnesty International says terrorism suspects were tortured.
Britain is building training villages in Salak for elite Cameroon units, documents obtained by Declassified show.
Those forces are also accused of severe human rights abuses against an English-speaking “Ambazonian” movement.
In response to fresh demands for autonomy from the Francophone central government in 2017, Amnesty says more than 20 peaceful protesters were shot and over 500 arbitrarily detained.
Our revelations of British support for Biya’s regime come as Amnesty launched a campaign on Monday to free political prisoners in Cameroon.
Fabien Offner, a researcher for the group, said: “Over the past five years, the human rights situation has grown increasingly bleak as people from Anglophone regions, including journalists, human rights defenders, activists and supporters of political opposition, have been arrested and jailed for expressing their opinions or peacefully protesting.”
The UK government is aware of such abuses. British officials have privately noted President Biya’s “frequent detention of opposition activists and unjustifiably broad use of the anti-terrorism law”.
But Whitehall is offering considerable support to Biya’s regime. One recent UK operation, codenamed ODYSSEAN, saw a British special forces officer draft a “crisis management” doctrine for Cameroon’s president.
In return for this and other services, Biya awarded the officer — lieutenant colonel “Sid” Purser — the equivalent of an MBE.
Alongside the military support, Britain signed a £200-million trade deal with Cameroon last year. A British foreign minister met President Biya in March 2021 to discuss “investment opportunities”, which include a Guinness factory.
Ngoh Ngoh and Eko Eko
Lt Col Purser — a Falklands war veteran and marine commando — is stationed in Cameroon as Britain’s “senior military adviser”.
There, he has cultivated “influential relationships” with Biya’s “right-hand man”, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, and Cameroon’s spy chief Leopold Maxine Eko Eko. Cameroon’s prime minister and defence minister appear to be the other most influential people.
Ngoh Ngoh came to Britain in May 2018 to visit the UK intelligence community.
Eko Eko runs the country’s fearsome intelligence agency, the Directorate General Research External (DGRE). British diplomats described him as a “dove” and said his spies “previously had a bad compliance reputation” until he took over in 2010.
However, Amnesty International has published allegations of torture throughout Eko Eko’s leadership of the DGRE. Former detainees say senior DGRE officers got away with torture from 2013-17.
Despite Amnesty’s detailed report, UK defence minister James Heappey met Eko Eko at a dinner hosted by the British ambassador while visiting Cameroon last spring. The British minister was briefed to “reinforce the view that protecting the civilian population is paramount”.
He was also advised to “praise” Eko Eko for his counter-extremism efforts and “thank” him for letting British troops conduct “capacity building” of the DGRE at Salak, which is “close to the area of operations”. The spy chief deployed 32 of his men at the notorious torture site to coincide with the UK training.
Ministerial visit
Ministry of Defence (MOD) briefing papers for Heappey’s visit have been obtained by Declassified. They expose the scale of Britain’s covert military role in the African police-state — where France is traditionally seen as the more dominant European power.
The documents show how British diplomats overlook Biya’s “shortcomings on human rights and democracy”, partly because he voted with the UK to condemn the use of chemical weapons by Russia and Syria.
The UK saw Cameroon as a “priority lobbying country” at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
“President Biya is instinctively a supporter of the rules-based international order,” the then UK High Commissioner Rowan Laxton insisted.
A few months later, more than 500 activists from the opposition party, the Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon, were reportedly rounded up.
The crackdown earned Biya criticism from 14 UN human rights experts, who were “extremely worried about mass arrests of peaceful protesters and political activists who express dissent”. More than 100 activists from this group remain in detention, Amnesty said on Monday.
Rapid Intervention Battalion
As well as supporting Cameroon’s intelligence agency, Britain works with the regime’s special forces. “The main focus of UK capacity building in Cameroon” is on the Bataillon d’Intervention Rapide (BIR), or Rapid Intervention Battalion, the documents show.
This is a well-armed elite force of 10,000 men. They are accused of torture, executing women and children and burning down a village. French, US and Israeli support for the BIR is well known, whereas Britain’s role has remained largely hidden.
Minister Heappey was photographed on Twitter with the BIR during his visit to Cameroon last year. The MOD’s tweet said British troops were “working alongside Cameroon’s BIR force to counter the twin threats of Islamic State and Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin”.
His briefing notes reveal much more about the extent of this deployment. They show Heappey met Colonel Ndongo, the BIR Commander of what the Biya regime calls Operation Alpha — its mission against Boko Haram.
Heappey was told to congratulate the colonel on his “successful” work against the terror group and ask what more the UK could do. The British minister then observed UK troops providing capacity building in Salak, where detainees have allegedly been tortured.
A British army short-term training team was deployed to Salak from January 2021. There they conducted “train and advise activity with BIR and DGRE” until around mid-April 2021.
By that stage, Whitehall was considering “whether the capacity building should evolve to include assist, enable or accompany functions”. It is not clear if this development went ahead.
A UK Brigadier General who visited Cameroon during the deployment “noted the professionalism” of the BIR and DGRE but worried their successes were “generally short-lived”.
Britain’s former ambassador believed Cameroon security forces “have performed admirably”.
Carriage of weapons
UK interest in Cameroon grew after neighbouring Nigeria snubbed some MOD offers to help counter Boko Haram. The militant group has kidnapped school girls and terrorises the Lake Chad region.
France asked the UK to “do more” to counter the Islamic extremist group in 2016. The then prime minister Theresa May agreed.
Purser’s military post in Cameroon was established and he focused “on delivering effect in North East Nigeria from the ‘outside-in’ ”.
He had spent the previous five years leading counter-terrorism efforts by UK special forces across north west Africa.
His more recent work in Cameroon has relied on troops from 1 Scots Specialised Infantry Group.
These soldiers are now part of the army’s special operations brigade, a new “ranger battalion” that is expected to fight alongside allies in counter-insurgency situations.
This concept has already been trialled in Cameroon, where an “exchange of notes… provides for UK jurisdiction and carriage of weapons in the far north”.
It also sets out Britain’s human rights concerns and “what our response would be to any infraction”. The files say “this is closely monitored”.
The risk is so high that UK training “has been designed to be delivered directly to force elements that are already deployed or will deploy shortly” on operations to counter Boko Haram or Islamic State in northern Cameroon.
This is “intended to minimise the risk of UK trained units being diverted to other theatres”, a reference to parts of the country where English-speakers are struggling for independence.
Training includes “mountain manoeuvres” and “targeted use of intelligence (to reduce collateral damage)”. The MOD claims the training has made Cameroon’s state security forces “highly effective”. The Red Cross provides sessions on the law of war as part of the training.
Private security companies
Air support for ground troops appears to be an issue. All three of Cameroon’s C130 military transport planes were grounded in March 2021.
Marshall Aerospace, a British firm, signed a contract in 2019 to maintain the aircraft but it is awaiting payment from Cameroon’s state oil company.
Heappey was instructed to ask Biya’s right-hand man, Ngoh Ngoh, to “unlock the bureaucracy” and let the payment go through.
Another British business, the Westminster-based Torchlight Group, has provided intelligence analyst training to “all force elements engaged in the far north” of Cameroon.
It helped “provide interoperability between all agencies” such as DGRE and the BIR over the last three years. Torchlight did not respond to a request for comment.
Ambazonia
The papers provide a rare insight into the Foreign Office’s view of the Ambazonia conflict. The region was once a British colony called the Southern Cameroons. During independence negotiations in 1961, local people voted to join the larger, French-speaking part of Cameroon.
A federal system that was meant to preserve some autonomy gradually broke down, and this marginalisation fuelled Ambazonian separatist sentiment.
The documents show British diplomats noting that “widespread human rights abuses continue to occur at the hands of both separatists and state security forces” in Ambazonia.
Whitehall believes: “There is no chance of — and little popular support for — independence… But the conflict will continue to simmer unless and until the Government addresses the reasonable demands of the moderate majority.”
These “moderate” demands are seen as greater autonomy, financial support, protection of civilians and respect for the use of English.
UK officials think President Biya had “a long period of denial” on the Anglophone crisis and that his defence minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, believes it can be “ended through military action alone”.
At Heappey’s meeting with Ngoh Ngoh, who is also Biya’s likely successor, he was told to point out: “There still appears to be too many allegations relating to the Anglophone crisis, notwithstanding the possibility of disinformation [fake news], all credible allegations must be investigated.”
An initial “dialogue plan” for the crisis was “developed in coordination with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson”, a right-wing MP in Northern Ireland.
Donaldson walked out on the Good Friday Agreement peace talks but has styled himself as an international conflict negotiation expert. He is now UK trade envoy to Cameroon.
Heappey was advised to tell Cameroon’s spy chief, Eko Eko, that “military operations must be intelligence-led and precise and that dialogue is essential to achieving a peaceful solution to the conflict”.
He was to “highlight our own examples/lessons from Northern Ireland where the UK did not always get it right”, such as internment — the mass detention of terrorist suspects without trial.
An MOD spokesperson told Declassified: “The UK is committed to working with regional allies in Central and West Africa to tackle violence in the Lake Chad Basin.
“Cameroon is an important partner in this effort and we are exploring what further support we can provide to tackle shared security challenges and further contain the spread of violent extremism in the region.”
The Cameroonian authorities did not respond to a request for comment. DM
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-01-26-cameroon-the-corrupt-and-brutal-central-african-state-is-run-by-five-men-with-support-from-the-united-kingdom/
Horrific farm murder of the van den Berg couple, 4 attackers found guilty
South Africa: Horrific farm murder of the van den Berg couple, 4 attackers found guilty
AfriForum
AfriForum’s Head of Policy and Action, Ernst Roets, on 26 January 2022, pleaded with the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein that farm murderers face the severe punishment their heinous crime warrants.
This formed part of Roets’ expert testimony on farm murders in the murder case of Sakkie (67) and Ina (62) van den Berg.
The victims were murdered on their farm in 2019 near Boshof in the Free State.
On 12 July 2019, at about 17:30, Mr van den Berg left to take a worker back to town, leaving his wife at home. On the way back to the farm, he stopped to open his farm gate when he was allegedly overpowered by six suspects. He was then taken back to his house where together with his wife were tied up, brutally beaten and shot. Both died at the scene.
Roets was approached by the prosecutor in this case to testify about the extent of farm attacks and farm murders, and the impact it has on communities, families and society at large.
Earlier this week all four accused in this case, Johannes Sekgoro, Thami Terence Kat, Leepile Daniel Sidasi and Daniel Tsekiso Seloane, were found guilty of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Two of the accused (Kat and Seloane) were also found guilty of the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
In his testimony Roets explained that farm attacks and farm murders are already regarded as a priority crime in theory, because it has been declared as such by both the former National Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, and the current Minister of Police, Bheki Cele. However, Roets explained that this crime phenomenon cannot be described as a priority crime in practice, because an appropriate counter strategy has not been implemented.
Against this background, Roets’ plea to the court was to play its role in the prioritisation of these attacks and murders, by punishing the perpetrators severely.
“Punishing these perpetrators severely is a necessary step to convey to the community and family of the victims the message that justice has been served. It will also contribute towards deterring other criminals plotting similar crimes,” Roets says.
“Farm murders do not only affect the immediate family of the deceased, but also society at large. Farms are the lifeblood of rural communities. When we lose our farmers, we also lose our rural communities,” Roets concludes.
Read: Gruesome Boshof farm murder: 5 arrested, couple were tied up, brutally beaten, shot
Read: Farm murderers of the van den Berg couple were transported to their farm with an ambulance
Read about more farm attacks here
https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/free-state/horrific-farm-murder-of-the-van-den-berg-couple-4-attackers-found-guilty/
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
Russia deploys electronic warfare battalion close to Ukrainian border
Russia deploys electronic warfare battalion close to Ukrainian border
High-tech reconnaissance unit moved to the frontier as fears of war increase
The Russian Army has deployed a new electronic warfare battalion in the Belgorod Region, close to the border with Ukraine, which will “reduce the time needed to obtain necessary information [about military movements],” it was revealed on Tuesday.
Announced by the Western Military District, one of Russia’s five Army administrative divisions, the new battalion is armed with multiple different vehicles designed for electronic warfare, such as the Borisoglebsk 2, designed to disrupt communications and GPS systems, and the Zhitel portable communications jamming station.
“A separate electronic warfare battalion has joined the Vistula Motorized Rifle Division of the Western Military District. The new military units are deployed in the Belgorod region,” an official press release stated.
According to Colonel General Alexander Zhuravlev, the battalion “will significantly increase reconnaissance capabilities of the unit.”
Aside from his work commanding the Western Military District, Zhuravlev is known for leading Russian forces in Syria during the civil war there.
The Belgorod Region, where the electronic warfare battalion has been placed, borders Ukraine. Kharkiv, that country’s second-largest city, is less than an hour away from the frontier. The new deployment comes as Russia stands accused of planning an invasion of Ukraine, with Western newspapers and politicians suggesting a military incursion is around the corner. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied this accusation, stating that Russia is simply moving its own military around its own territory.
The movement also coincides with the Union Resolve 2022 joint exercises being conducted by the armed forces of Russia and Belarus. Troops from around Russia are currently redeploying to the country’s western ally, ahead of large-scale joint drills, due to begin on February 10. The US State Department has suggested that the exercises could be a pretense for an invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.rt.com/russia/547310-battalion-deployed-ukrainian-border/
Pictures of San Francisco, Formerly Paradise, Now Ruined by Democrats
Inside San Francisco's open air drug market that proves why city's woke effort to connect homeless addicts to rehab is NOT working - as users shoot up, pass out and scatter their needles
- The new linkage center, aimed at connecting homeless addicts with rehab facilities, opened on January 18
- The center is located at 1172 Market Street at the United Nations Plaza in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco and is equipped to serve up to 100 people at a time
- Photos taken by DailyMail.com show an illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with needles and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight
- San Francisco never approved the creation of a supervised consumption site at the linkage center and the site is in violation of state and federal laws
- The open air drug market was first reported on by journalist Michael Shellenberger, who said in his Substack blog that he'd witnessed a drug deal and blatant drug use at the site
- The center is part of Mayor London Breed's Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan to address public drug use and overdose deaths in the neighborhood
- Breed generated national news media coverage last December when she announced the crackdown on open air drug use in the downtown Tenderloin neighborhood
- In addition to helping connect people with service, the center will also help people living on the streets get access to basic things like food, water, bathrooms, showers and laundry
- The center operates seven seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with limited staff due to the impact of COVID-19. However, the center will expand to operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week
A new 'linkage center' aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities opened in San Francisco last week - but distressing images show an open air illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with needles and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight.
Images taken by DailyMail.com show a woman slumped over in a wheelchair, her pants down around her ankles, preparing to inject a needle into her thigh. The woman sitting on the ground next to her has a needle to her neck.
Many others are sitting on the ground among trash, empty food containers and dirty blankets, as they fumble in with drug paraphernalia in the cold weather.
The center, which opened on January 18, is part of the San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan introduced last year. The linkage center is located at 1172 Market Street, in the United Nations Plaza. The supervised drug consumption area is an outdoor fenced section of the linkage center - just blocks away from the city's court house, San Francisco City Hall and the Civic Center. Aerial footage of the area shows the city's Pioneer Monument overrun with homeless tents.
In December, Breed declared a state of emergency in Tenderloin and announced a sweeping crackdown on open air drug use and drug dealing in the downtown neighborhood - one of the city's poorest and most drug-infested areas.
The Tenderloin has long been an epicenter of homelessness and drug use, but city officials said the problem has worsened as the national opioid crisis escalated over the course of the pandemic.
Announcing a crime crackdown, Breed argued that San Francisco officers should get aggressive and 'less tolerant of all the bulls*** that has destroyed our city', as she went back on her plans to defund the police.
'It's time the reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end,' she said. 'And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies.'
But, the photos taken by DailyMail.com this week shows that streets in the area are not anywhere close to being cleaned up, and a far cry from being a safe neighborhood.
A woman is slumped over in a wheelchair, preparing to inject a needle into her thigh, at a new 'linkage center' that opened in San Francisco last week, aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities
A group of women sit on the ground at a new linkage center in San Francisco where hundreds of people were seen using and dealing drugs, including the woman pictured seen with a needle to her neck
The center, which opened January 18, is aimed at helping connect people to services, but distressing images depict an illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with needles and and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight
Drone images show the site with dozens of people openly dealing, smoking and injecting drugs on the plaza. A San Francisco police cruiser rolled past but did nothing
The linkage center is located at 1172 Market Street, in the United Nations Plaza, the city's largest open air drug market. The supervised drug consumption area is an outdoor fenced section of the linkage center, where many people were seen fumbling with drug paraphernalia
The center is equipped to serve up to 100 people at a time who are suffering from drug use and mental health issues, connecting with long-term and short-term services like health care and housing
The center, which opened on January 18, is part of the San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan for a sweeping crackdown on open air drug use and drug dealing in the downtown Tenderloin neighborhood
The plan came in the midst of a local, state, and national debate over whether the city should open a 'supervised drug consumption' site as a tactic for reducing drug overdose deaths
A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco - many of whom pitch tents in the Tenderloin - are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, often both
The center is equipped to serve up to 100 people at a time who are suffering from drug use and mental health issues, connecting with long-term and short-term services like health care and housing
Mayor Breed and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have advocated a supervised drug consumption site, and purchased two properties in the Tenderloin to serve people suffering from addiction
The linkage center (in blue) is located at 1172 Market Street, in the United Nations Plaza in Ssan Francisco's Tenderloin district. The supervised drug consumption area is an outdoor fenced section of the linkage center. Photos taken by DailyMail.com show people on the streets in the Tenderloin district (marked in red) also taking drugs. This is happening just blocks away from San Francisco City Hall and the iconic Pioneer Monument
At a press conference at the time, Breed said that the city was in 'crisis' and that the streets were 'nasty' as more crime and drug overdoses littered the streets.
'We are in a crisis and we need to respond accordingly,' she said on Friday. 'Too many people are dying in this city, too many people are sprawled on our streets. 'We have to meet people where they are.'
Breed said that rapid drug intervention is needed because about two people a day are dying of overdoses, mostly from fentanyl, in the Tenderloin and the city's South of Market neighborhood.
'The work that we have in place after our assessment allow us this ability through this emergency declaration to move quickly, to move fast, to change the conditions - specifically of the Tenderloin community' she said.
'This is necessary in order to see a difference.'
The move came after Breed performed a dramatic U-turn on the 'defund the police' strategy as she called for 'more aggressive policing' to replace 'bulls**t progressive policies' and said she would ask for more money to be given to the police to stamp out drug dealing, car break-ins and theft.
On January 18, the day the site opened, Mayor Breed issued a list on her web site of the services available at the linkage center; they did not include a supervised consumption site
The illegal supervised drug consumption site at the linkage center, where a half-dozen people were witnesses smoking fentanyl in an outdoor area on the site, and two people passed out at a table
A man sits on the ground next to a fence that surrounds the linkage site in San Francisco where witnesses have seen hundreds of people dealing and using drugs
Drone images show people using drugs within the fence of San Francisco's new Linkage Center, which is an essential component of San Francisco's Tenderloin Emergency Initiative aimed to link addicts to services
Trash litters the area at the linkage site which opened on January 18, is part of the San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Tenderloin Emergency Intervention plan introduced last year
People at the linkage center cling to one another in drone images captured just after the center opened in January
Mayor Breed said that the city was in 'crisis' and that the streets were 'nasty' as more crime and drug overdoses littered the streets. Pictured are people sprawled out at the new linkage site where many have been witnesses dealing and using drugs
Despite Breed's promise to crack down on rampant crime and homelessness, people are still living on the streets in the Tenderloin neighborhood
The emergency declaration paved the way for the city to cut through red tape that delays the public response to deteriorating conditions in the Tenderloin and quickly provide shelter, counseling and medical care to people suffering from addiction, Breed and city officials said.
There will also be more coordinated enforcement of illegal activities, street cleanups and other infrastructure improvements to make the neighborhood safer, they said.
Shortly after, she announced the opening of the 'linkage center,' which is aimed at connecting homeless street addicts with drug rehab facilities.
The center is equipped to serve up to 100 people at a time who are suffering from drug use and mental health issues, connecting with long-term and short-term services like health care and housing.
Mayor Breed and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have advocated a supervised drug consumption site, and purchased two properties in the Tenderloin to serve people suffering from addiction.
'Our work in the Tenderloin requires all of our City departments and community partners working together to address the major challenges we know exist,' Mayor Breed said in a release last week. 'As part of that work, this Linkage Center will help us create a space for people who are struggling with addiction and other challenges to get immediate support, and then transition into longer term care and housing. This is hard work, and I appreciate everyone joining in partnership to make a difference for the people of the Tenderloin.'
But the city never approved the creation of a supervised consumption site at the linkage center and the site is in violation of state and federal laws.
The blatant drug use at the site was first reported on by journalist Michael Shellenberger, who wrote in his Substack that two undercover reporters had witnessed a drug deal as well as half-a-dozen people smoking fentanyl in an outdoor area.
An employee of a city contractor at the linkage center told them that two people had overdosed and had to be revived within the first week of the site opening.
A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco - many of whom pitch tents in the Tenderloin - are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, often both.
In addition to connecting people with services, the center will also help people living on the streets with access to basic things like food, water, bathrooms, showers and laundry
Many people at the site were seen buying and selling drugs at the site after Mayor Breed announced a crime crackdown, arguing that San Francisco officers should get aggressive and 'less tolerant of all the bulls*** that has destroyed our city', as she went back on her plans to defund the police.
An employee of a city contractor at the linkage center told Daily Mail that two people had overdosed and been revived within the first week that the the site was open
Signs posted to cars near the linkage site announce 'nothing to steal' as crime continues to rise in one of the city's poorest and most drug-infested neighborhood
Some people rant in the streets, nude and in need of medical help. Last year, 712 people died of drug overdoses, compared with 257 people who died of COVID-19
Drone images show dozens of people sprawled out at the linkage site, many in wheelchairs and on crutches
When confronted with evidence that the linkage center housed a drug consumption site, spokespersons for Urban Alchemy and for Mayor London Breed declined to comment
An employee of a city contractor at the linkage center told DailyMail.com that two people had overdosed and had to be revived within the first week of the site opening
People at the site are seen using and selling drugs, slumped over, and sitting among trash that litters the area
Witnesses reported seeing people take their clothes off, rant in the streets and even saw two people overdosed. Last year, 712 people died of drug overdoses, compared with 257 people who died of COVID-19
When confronted with evidence that the linkage center housed a drug consumption site, spokespersons for Urban Alchemy and for Mayor London Breed declined to comment.
When the two undercover journalists visited the area just days after the site opened, there were hundreds of people openly dealing, smoking and injecting drugs on the plaza. A San Francisco police cruiser rolled past but did nothing.
Last November, Mayor Breed introduced legislation to allow safe drug consumption sites in San Francisco, a goal she has pursued for years.
State Supervisor Scott Weiner introduced a bill in the state legislature to legalize such sites for San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.
New York City recently established two safe consumption sites, in East Harlem and Washington Heights. The sites are illegal under federal law, but to date the Biden administration has taken no action against them.
On January 18, the day the site opened, Mayor Breed issued a list on her website of the services available at the linkage center; they did not include a supervised consumption site.
Signs point to the entrance of the linkage center in the Tenderloin area
The center operates seven seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with limited staff due to the impact of COVID-19. However, the center will expand to operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and have the capacity to serve 100 people at a time
In addition to connecting people with services, the center will also help people living on the streets with access to basic things like food, water, bathrooms, showers and laundry, according to the release
Mayor London Breed launched an emergency police intervention in December aimed at curbing open drug use, brazen home break-ins and other criminal behaviors taking place in San Francisco's crime-ridden Tenderloin neighborhood
Crime in San Francisco has been a serious issue in the past year. Since the start of the month, the city recorded three homicides - up from two in the same period in 2021. Meanwhile, overall crime so far this month has decreased by 21.8% compared to the same time period last year
San Francisco is grappling with lawlessness that has seen the city overrun with crime over the past two years. Across the entire city last November, there were 3,375 reports of larceny theft, the majority being car break-ins, with SFPD's Central District seeing the most car smash-and-grabs, at a total of 876.
This month so far, there has been a 50 percent increased in homicides with three reported between January 1 and January 23, compared to only two during the same time frame last year, but overall crime has decreased by 21.8 percent, according to crime statistics released by the San Francisco Police Department.
Assault in the city has decreased by more than 10 percent from 151 cases last year at this time to 135.
Larceny theft cases have also decreased about 15 percent with cases so far this month at 1,282, which are down from 1,517 from the same time last year.
Robbery cases decreased about 24 percent and rape cases decreased 22 percent.
A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco - many of whom pitch tents in the Tenderloin - are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, often both. Some people rant in the streets, nude and in need of medical help. Last year, 712 people died of drug overdoses, compared with 257 people who died of COVID-19.
The linkage center operates seven seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with limited staff due to the impact of COVID-19. However, the center will expand to operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and have the capacity to serve 100 people at a time.
In addition to connecting people with services, the center will also help people living on the streets with access to basic things like food, water, bathrooms, showers and laundry, according to the release.
The center will also provide services like COVID-19 vaccination and testing as well as HIV and Hepatitis C testing.
The center is being overseen by both the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Emergency management, with assistance from city departments and several community organizations.
The linkage center operates seven seven days a week between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with limited staff due to the impact of COVID-19. However, the center will expand to operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and have the capacity to serve 100 people at a time
The site is surrounded by a fence of the open air illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with needles and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight
In addition to connecting people with services, the center will also help people living on the streets with access to basic things like food, water, bathrooms, showers and laundry, according to the release
A woman is seen using a water bottle to shower off outside a tent at the linkage site. A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco - many of whom pitch tents in the Tenderloin - are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, often both
The emergency declaration paved the way for the city to cut through red tape that delays the public response to deteriorating conditions in the Tenderloin and quickly provide shelter, counseling and medical care to people suffering from addiction, Breed and city officials said
A fence surrounds the open air illicit drug consumption site that is now littered with needles and crowded with addicts shooting up in broad daylight
The center (pictured) being overseen by both the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the San Francisco Department of Emergency management, with assistance from city departments and several community organizations
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