Residents living around Shotwell Street in San Francisco's Mission District believe that barriers installed earlier this year to deter sex work on Capp Street have pushed people to their street.
Those neighbors say as a result, they feel unsafe walking around their neighborhood at night and are asking for more support from the city.
The neighbors report that on Shotwell Street near the intersections with 20th and 21st Streets, they've seen an increase in sex workers and activity at night.
Back in February, the city installed barriers a few blocks away at Capp Street between 18th and 22nd Streets to deter sex work there.
Since then, neighbors on Shotwell believe they've seen more sex workers on their street.
"Definitely happening more on Shotwell since March, and month-over-month I definitely see a big increase of activities happening," said one neighbor who didn't want to be identified.
Four concerned neighbors spoke with NBC Bay Area on Sunday, though none wished to be identified for fear of their safety. They report that Shotwell has gotten louder at night and several neighbors reported people in the streets being aggressive towards them at night. These neighbors say that the activity and sex work in the street starts at around 9 p.m. and continues until around 6 a.m.
The neighbors shared recent videos of people getting dropped off and walking around the street at night.
One neighbor said the activity at night, "doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us step out of home after sunset, which our friends or family doesn’t feel comfortable visiting us in the evening."
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The neighbors say they would like to see the same type of barriers that are on Capp Street, though they add they would also like to see longer-term solutions.
"We need license plate readers, we need to be tracking all the traffic," said one neighbor, who said she would like to see more police regularly monitoring the area.
"There are crimes happening every night in the Mission so we asked for help," this neighbor explained, noting that neighbors have been asking local leaders for similar changes for around five years.
In an email shared with neighbors, a San Francisco Police captain stated that city departments are meeting in an effort to reduce nightly vehicle traffic in the area to "pursue mirroring some of the Capp Street roadway modifications (bollards) on Shotwell Street."
Captain Thomas Harvey of the San Francisco Police Department's Mission station confirmed to NBC Bay Area on Monday that residents on Shotwell Street have requested barriers and that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency would be responsible for planning and installing any barriers.
NBC Bay Area also reached out to the office of San Francisco Supervisor Hilary Ronen, whose district includes this area, and we have not yet received a response.
