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Peter Calloway Profile picture
Peter Calloway
@petercalloway
Public defender in San Francisco.
Love is Good for the Soul Profile picture 1 subscribed
Jun 16, 2023 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
This common argument—that we *need* Drug War policies to save the city—relies on some faulty (and troubling) premises. I'll explain below. (1) "Arresting drug users and dealers will 'clean up' the streets and make the city safer." The reality is that arresting users & dealers will, at best, temporarily move open drug use from one part of the city to another, or disperse it more widely throughout. It's not a solution
Jun 16, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
The level of deception and disinformation from San Francisco's Drug War proponents is getting out of hand. For over a year, they've said their attacks on the poor were about treatment and compassion. Now, even the chief of police acknowledges it was a lie. missionlocal.org/2023/06/police… Image CHP is in on the grift. They've been conducting traffic stops for things like broken taillights as a pretext for looking for drugs. They deny that's what they are doing, but not credibly—they were brought into the city for the *explicit purpose* of targeting drug use/sales. Image
Jun 15, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
So many people like this guy claim that most crime in San Francisco just isn’t prosecuted. It’s a ludicrous proposition easily disprovable by any thinking person who cares. But in one respect, he has a point🧵 He’s correct that *some* crime goes unprosecuted. For example, the crimes our district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, committed to get the job she has.
Apr 30, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Perhaps the cops should stop showing up 5-12 deep to every misdemeanor theft or vandalism? That’s not an exaggeration either. I read the reports, I watch the bodycam footage, I represent the clients. SFPD is not understaffed. They’re lying. And the pro-cop politicians are too. Don’t forget that one of the loudest was literally SFPD’s PR guy before being appointed supervisor. Copagandist in chief.
Mar 18, 2023 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
London Breed is a murderer. It sounds extreme, I know. But I'll support that claim below, and comment on the steady rightward shift in SF crime politics. 🧵 In December, Breed shut down the Tenderloin Center, a place where unhoused folks could get respite from the harsh streets and access medical care, showers, food, and basic human decency. Ending that—with no replacement—is cruel enough. But the consequences have been much worse.
Mar 18, 2023 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
In December, Breed shut down the Tenderloin Center, a place where unhoused folks could get respite from the harsh streets and access medical care, showers, food, and basic human decency. Ending that—with no replacement—is cruel enough. But the consequences have been much worse. Overdose deaths have spiked since the center shut down, which is exactly what advocates and observers said would happen when the imminent closure was announced. Around 300 overdoses were reversed at the center.
Dec 23, 2022 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
A thread on San Francisco’s homelessness crisis: why it’s spiraling, why the city is responding so inhumanely, and what unhoused San Franciscans and their allies are doing in response. (With links to some great reporting and analysis.) It’s no secret that homelessness in San Francisco is out of control. Nearly 5000 people a night are forced to sleep on the streets. Contrary to the claim advanced by people who want to otherize these folks even further, most are from San Francisco.
Dec 3, 2022 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Former chief propagandist for SFPD wants a former director of CIA propaganda films to create a “documentary” on SFPD called The Real Streets of San Francisco. We can’t let this happen. 🧵 Dorsey tried to do this when he was director of SFPD’s propaganda department and failed. Now that he’s on the board of supervisors, he’s trying again. This man is relentless and pretty effective. Unfortunately, he’s using his abilities to advance projects that will harm SF.
Dec 2, 2022 • 24 tweets • 5 min read
Thread: There's a human rights crisis happening in San Francisco's jails. Today, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, our community leader allies, & impacted community members spoke out. My public comment is below, & comments from others are linked. First, some background. People in the jail are locked down for 23 hrs/day. They don’t see the sun or breathe fresh air except when they're shackled at their wrists & ankles & brought to court. I wrote more here about the conditions & the consequences of such inhumane treatment.
Nov 30, 2022 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
Thread: The Chron just published its 1st major analysis on what the data shows are the differences btw the prosecutorial approaches of the new DA, Jenkins, & her predecessor, Boudin. Below, I'll break down what I think they got right, and what they missed. sfchronicle.com/sf/article/bro… First, this analysis focuses only on data around charging decisions and outcomes. That's important. But it doesn't address (and doesn't claim to) what I think are other key distinctions: Boudin was recalled because he held cops and corporations accountable. Jenkins does not.
Oct 15, 2022 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
Thread: San Francisco's interim DA Brooke Jenkins has been credibly accused of numerous instances of misconduct (one criminal) in a complaint filed with the State Bar. This is a big deal. I’ll explain why below. ktvu.com/news/state-bar… The complaint, filed by a retired judge, meticulously documents numerous ethical violations over a number of years, beginning as an Assistant DA, then as a “volunteer” for the campaign to recall her former boss, and now as the interim DA and a candidate for that office.
Sep 16, 2022 • 14 tweets • 11 min read
There’s a crisis happening right now in San Francisco’s jails. More than 160 people are caged pretrial—presumed innocent—past their legal speedy trial deadline. Tomorrow at 10 am, my office and our community allies will rally on the court’s steps to demand an end to this crisis. Every person accused of a crime is guaranteed the constitutional right to a speedy trial. The SF Court has adopted a cruel practice of delaying trials, leaving ppl languishing in jail indefinitely while awaiting trial. This crisis is made worse by the conditions they face inside.
Sep 5, 2022 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
The proliferation of former federal prosecutors turned media legal analysts is really something to behold. It’s head-spinning to anyone who knows what’s happening behind the scenes. They’re held up as these esteemed experts, shown a bizarre degree of deference and admiration. But there’s almost never any mention of the tremendous harm that virtually all of them caused by devoting huge chunks of their lives to being the agents of mass incarceration.
Aug 17, 2022 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
One by one, leaders of the Boudin recall are being exposed for corruption and fraud. An overview below, with receipts. First up, Leanna Louie. Louie was among the most vitriolic of the Boudin recall crowd. Just unhinged criticisms rooted in fantasy and deception. We now know, thanks to stellar reporting by @EskSF, that she has likely committed voter fraud.
Aug 3, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Another scandal in the office of new interim San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins. Short thread. Boudin was relentlessly attacked by the recall people as unethical, trying to hide things, etc, when in reality he ran probably the most transparent DA’s office in the country.
Jul 18, 2022 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
The Drug War is officially back on in San Francisco. For the first time in years, people are being prosecuted for simply using drugs or possessing paraphernalia. It’s hard to fully comprehend the harm this will cause. I’ll try to lay it out below. First, a bit of background. For a long time, San Francisco has generally declined to use armed government agents to enforce restrictions on what ppl can put in their bodies or hold in their hands.
Jul 16, 2022 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Update: Jenkins fired at least 15 people, and some of the decisions are extremely troubling. Also troubling, the Chronicle’s framing. I mean look at this. Jenkins fires double the number Boudin did initially, gutting key units, and their headline is that she hired women in management positions.
Jul 15, 2022 • 18 tweets • 4 min read
Thread: Newly installed, unelected San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins has begun hiring and firing, and there’s a lot to dig into. She’s obviously misrepresented her “progressive” intentions, and the media has essentially given her a pass. More below. Remember when Boudin fired 7 people in his first week—many of whom had been credibly accused of serious misconduct—and the Chronicle parroted the line that it was a “Friday Night Massacre?” Jenkins just canned two and has at least another 12 on the chopping block.
Jun 23, 2022 • 20 tweets • 8 min read
Thread: Tomorrow, the San Francisco board of supervisors will consider the mayor’s request to increase SFPD’s budget by *$50,000,000*. It’s a shocking misuse of taxpayer money by a mayor pivoting hard to old-school tough-on-crime policies. Here’s why we can’t let this happen. First, some perspective. San Francisco has more police per capita than any other city in California with a population over 100k. So there are plenty of cops here already.
May 18, 2022 • 27 tweets • 6 min read
Thread. Today in misadventures in journalism: The @sfstandard published a rock-bottom piece that makes an implicit argument for failed Drug War policies, and for the recall of SF's progressive DA. It’s truly shocking. I’ll explain what I think the main problems are below.
Apr 1, 2022 • 25 tweets • 5 min read
THREAD: There’s a lot of talk right now about crime in San Francisco. Almost everything you’ll read in the mainstream press is wrong. I live in the Tenderloin and work in the courts every day. Here’s my take on what’s happening and why. Let’s start with an example of the pervasive disinformation: In a recent piece on the TL—where I’ve lived for 4 yrs, and the epicenter of the city’s homelessness and drug crises—a Washington Post journalist, @PostScottWilson, tells readers that crime in the TL is out of control.