Blue City Homeless Camps Reach Highest Number In Three Years

San Francisco’s number of homeless encampments is at its highest since 2020, according to The San Francisco Standard.

More people entered homeless shelters through the city’s homeless outreach operations during the first six months of 2023 than during any six-month time frame since 2021, according to the Standard. As of July 2023, there are 523 homeless encampment sites in San Francisco, the highest since October 2020’s 530 homeless encampment sites, according to the San Francisco government.

More than 4,000 people are homeless and unsheltered in San Francisco, according to the city.

The city issued a state of emergency in December 2021 after skyrocketing crime and drug use in 2020 and 2021 and began more stringent enforcement of homeless ordinances. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu of the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, issued an injunction in December 2022 barring the city from enforcing its homeless ordinances, following a lawsuit against the city filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of advocacy group the Coalition on Homelessness.

The city’s director of street response coordination, Sam Dodge, said in April that the number of people refusing services increased due to the ruling, according to the Standard. A record 975 people entered shelters, while 49% of people refused services during homeless outreach operations in San Francisco in the first six months of this year, according to the city.

Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.