Since the beginning of the year, California's Department of Public Works has received about 14,600 calls about piles of poop.
A team of five members from the California Department of Public Works will begin patrolling and cleaning the Californian city in about a month's time with a vehicle fitted with a steam cleaner.
"What we are trying to do is be proactive. So we'll have a crew that will roam around looking for locations. We actually have data for neighborhoods where we get frequent calls," San Francisco Director of Public Works Mohammed Nuru told ABC 7 Tuesday, also adding that the city will spend about $750,000 on the initiative.
"So, what happens is we're going to take one of those crews out and try to get ahead of those calls and look for these locations, so that hopefully we can get less numbers of calls coming in," Nuru recently told KTVU.
London Breed, the city's new mayor, told KTVU last month that the amount of feces in the wealthy city over recent months is the worst she has ever witnessed."We have the data that shows where most of the complaints are for poop clean up," Breed told KTVU. "So, the goal is to make sure we have a dedicated team and they are focusing on those particular areas where we know it's most problematic."
"I've had to deal with it myself in front my home, and it's not a pleasant feeling," Breed told ABC7. "I want to change San Francisco for the better. I want to clean up the city."
California's homeless population has grown rapidly in recent years. Out of the 7,499 people recorded as homeless in San Francisco alone last year, about 58 percent were unsheltered. The city's overall budget will top $11 billion for the first time ever this year as the government spends money on homeless outreach services and programs to get people off the streets, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
