San Francisco is expanding a street ambassador program credited with cutting the number of 911 calls in half. The public safety program will launch at Powell Street, one of the city\u2019s busiest transit hubs, thanks to nearly $5 million in private funding from the Downtown Development Corporation, the city said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Mayor Daniel Lurie said the expansion builds on measurable results from the Market Street Safe Corridor program<\/a>, which he described as central to the downtown recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPublic safety is the foundation for San Francisco\u2019s recovery, and it will always be my north star as mayor,\u201d Lurie said, speaking at the Powell Street cable-car turnaround. \u201cDowntown is coming back, and we\u2019re going to make sure that it is stronger than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n The nonprofit DDC will fund both the Powell Street expansion and the continuation of its Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team, or HEART, programs in Union Square and Yerba Buena, which had been set to expire<\/a> at the end of March. DDC CEO Shola Olatoye said the organization has raised more than $60 million since launching less than a year ago.<\/p>\n Since the ambassador program launched at the Embarcadero and Montgomery BART stations in July and September, respectively, safety-related 911 calls have dropped by 53%, San Francisco Police Department response times have fallen 58%, and San Francisco Fire Department response times have decreased by 23%, according to Olatoye. More than 82% of commuters reported feeling safer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re using data to help us drive what works and keep our streets safe and clean,\u201d Olatoye said.<\/p>\n Robbie Silver, president and CEO of the Downtown SF Partnership, said the program was launched in less than two weeks following a call to action from City Hall in July. Silver credited seed funding from Amazon, Google, and Visa for making the launch possible.<\/p>\n Crime is down 40% in Union Square and the Financial District, and San Francisco is leading major U.S. cities in return-to-office rates, Lurie said.<\/p>\n