James Irwin for The Bay Citizen

Frustration with transients in the Haight neighborhood sparked a grass-roots effort to pass the sit/lie measure

In the three weeks after San Francisco police began enforcing the controversial Civil Sidewalks ordinance last month, officers issued 86 warnings and 16 citations to people who were sitting or lying down on city sidewalks, police said. 

Most of the tickets were handed out in the Park police district, which includes the Haight neighborhood where a grass-roots effort to pass the ordinance grew out of frustration with aggressive transients on the streets.

The measure, which passed with 54 percent of the vote in November, officially took effect in December. Enforcement was pushed back to the second week of March to give the department time to train officers and complete other preparations.

When officers encounter someone who appears to be violating the law by sitting or lying down on the sidewalk between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., they first inform them of the law and ask them to get up. Repeat offenders incur an official warning and receive a card with information about services including shelters and medical clinics. If the offender persists, a citation is issued; the first ticket can lead to a penalty of $50 to $100; subsequent convictions can be punished by fines of up to $500 and as many as 30 days in jail.

The enforcement data, the most recent available from the police department, covers the period ending March 31.

The largest number of warnings, 18, along with two citations, took place in the tourist-heavy Central district, home to North Beach, Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf.

The figures for the Park district — which includes Haight-Ashbury and part of Golden Gate Park — suggest that area had more repeat offenders than other neighborhoods.

As of March 23, there were 10 warnings and no citations in the Park district. The next week, an additional six warnings and 11 tickets were handed out.

“You would assume that those warnings turned into citations,” said Lt. Troy Dangerfield, a police spokesman. “People didn’t comply, so they got cited.”

The Richmond police district, which includes the Richmond neighborhood and most of Golden Gate Park, had 15 warnings. It's unclear whether those admonitions took place in the neighborhood or the park. Dangerfield said the department is working to make more precise locations of enforcement activity available.

The Southern district, which covers the South of Market area, had 15 warnings and one citation. The Tenderloin had 12 warnings, and the Mission police district had 10 warnings and two citations.

No warnings or tickets were recorded for the largely residential Northern, Taraval, Ingleside and Bayview districts.