civic
21st death at a city Safe Sleeping site draws questions from councilmembers
Twenty-one people have died at the city's sanctioned camping sites since 2023, five of them this year. The city says staff are on site around the clock and it is working on bringing addiction treatment on site.
A person died at one of San Diego's Safe Sleeping sites in early October, the 21st death at the city-run camping sites since the program began in 2023, according to 10News and Voice of San Diego. The sites are at the O Lot near Balboa Park and at 20th and B streets.
Five of the deaths have happened since January, and officials have tied several recent ones to overdoses, 10News reported. The person who died has not been publicly identified.
At a council meeting on the city's homelessness plan Monday, Oct. 12, Councilmember Henry Foster asked, "What are we doing differently?" Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said the council had been promised that treatment providers would visit the sites regularly. Councilmembers also asked to be told about deaths and their causes.
City spokespeople said staff are on site 24 hours a day, are trained to give Narcan and check tents several times a day. The city is working on an agreement to provide substance-use treatment on site but has not given a timeline.
How this story was made: drafted with AI assistance, then checked line by line against the sources below by a San Diego Insight editor before publishing. Our standards.
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