‘Poop patrol’ targets human waste on SF streets

The San Francisco Department of Public Works announced Tuesday it will assemble a new team, known as the Poop Patrol, which will be focused on cleaning up human and animal waste throughout The City.

The team, which will be made up of six people – a supervisor and five workers, is part of a pilot program set to start sometime in September, according to public works department spokeswoman Rachel Gordon.

Reports of waste are normally handled largely through service requests, meaning residents will call 311 to make a report and DPW crews come to clean it up.

The new team, however, will take a more proactive approach, scouring hot spots in The City, looking for waste to clean up.

Gordon said:

“We will still be responding to service requests. … It’s just the latest method we’re looking at to keep The City clean.”

The new Poop Patrol team will complement The City’s Pit Stop program, which provides staffed public toilets in The City’s downtown areas.

According to Gordon, the program came about following a conversation between Mayor London Breed and Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. The pilot program currently has no end date.

Gordon said:

“We’ll be monitoring it regularly, at least monthly, if not more frequently, … We definitely know there’s been concern about waste on the streets and we’re going to see if this is one way we can address it.”