EXCLUSIVE: 'Video vigilantes' documenting San Francisco drug use hope for stronger city response
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- We showed you one man with an iPhone and a Twitter account, documenting the drug issues in San Francisco's South of Market. Turns out, he's not alone.
All lament how they hope for a stronger response from City Hall. Slowly, with a barrage of messages, they may be breaking through the din.
An apparently drug-crazed man screams, lurches, and falls over. Business as usual, if you can call it that, at 7th and Mission, south of Market in San Francisco.
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"Human decay is what I call it," said Adam Mesnick as he watched from across the street.
On Twitter, he goes as @bettersoma -- another video vigilante trying to draw attention to a problem he and neighbors describe as out of control.
"They terrorize the whole neighborhood," said Cynthia Rogers, who lives nearby.
They're soldiers in what has become a Twitter assault, tagging San Francisco politicians who have begun to respond. Last weekend, San Francisco Mayor London Breed caught one of the tweets and had a mess at a bus stop cleaned up within two hours.
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"Yeah, and I think sadly we have a lot of challenges that have existed for so many years," said the mayor.
Had Mayor Breed looked at the feeds Monday morning, she might have what appeared to be junkies passing needles to each otther and sharpening a weapon.
Another video vigilante, @CleanUpWestSoma, captured that one. "We have feces and urine and people shooting up and people with machetes and kids riding bikes."
"Is the city paying attention?"
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"I don't think so," said @CleanUpWestSoma.
"An eleven billion dollar budget and they can't keep a street clean?"
Desperate times. No end in sight. And citizens who feel that they're working harder to clean up their neighborhoods than the people they elected.
"Live-ability. Live-ability. That is what we want," said Mesnick.
"Is it moving in the right direction?"
"Wrong direction."
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