BART responds after video of drug users in San Francisco station

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Video of drug addicts shooting up as commuters walked by in a San Francisco BART station went viral last week. The video was taken by a BART commuter.

It showed drug users slumped over and unconscious amid pools of vomit at Civic Center station.

Rick came to the City four years ago. He says the BART corridor is a refuge from the elements.

"People shooting up there," we asked. "Oh yeah," he responded.

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His buddy Steve says BART police do make their presence known.

"Anybody that's loitering they make them leave," Steve said.

But, not all the time.

BART says the video was taken early in the morning when Civic Center station just opened, when officers were on a shift change.

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"The addicts obviously learned the pattern of our officers. We're making changes to those shift patterns, shift changes," said James Allison BART Spokesman.

BART has hired nearly two dozen new cleaners and they plan to bring in even more janitors and community service officers to patrol downtown San Francisco stations.

Civic Center station's corridors were clean when we visited around midday.

There were lots of BART police, but they can't guarantee it will be like that all the time because it's a societal problem.

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Supervisors President London Breed, who's running for mayor, agrees, saying that's why she wants safe injection sites.

"I want to try something that I know is actually working in places like Vancouver, Canada," said Breed.

BART is also partnering with agencies that provide services to drug users and homeless people.

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