SF leaders mull renewing contract with Urban Alchemy ambassadors in Tenderloin, Mid-Market

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco city leaders are calling for more support and funding for public safety programs as residents and visitors continue to register complaints about violence and crime.

Urban Alchemy is one of those programs — their ambassadors are often spotted around the city wearing black and yellow vests or camouflage sweatshirts — that is providing a non-violent, unarmed option of de-escalation to people in crisis on the streets of San Francisco.

CBS News Bay Area witnessed their de-escalation tactics in action as a person in crisis approached our interview. In this case, police were not called and Urban Alchemy says they are the best nonviolent solutions to mitigate such crises.

"You got a lot of stuff that you don't need police for especially when you got someone in the throes of a mental health crisis," said Urban Alchemy executive director Dr. Lena Miller. "You just need someone to talk to, listen to them, most of the time you can de-escalate."

Miller, a third-generation San Franciscan, says moments of crisis are too often met with violence, fear and aggression. Her program trains people to de-escalate, and they're only armed with two things.

"Narcan, and the gift of gab," said Miller.

City leaders gathered in the Tenderloin neighborhood Tuesday to rally support for public safety programs like Urban Alchemy. The group has asked the city for a contract extension and a total of $22.5 million for this fiscal year to fund personnel expansions in the neighborhood.

"A few years ago, you wouldn't be able to walk down these streets," said Miller. "We did that … This wasn't easy. These people are just talking to people. Just talking."

Ninety percent of Urban Alchemy team members have been formerly incarcerated. Miller says that's part of what makes them more effective, their goal is to de-escalate and relate using emotional intelligence.

"It takes losing everything and being stripped down to your core to develop these qualities because that's why people are so effective where they are in changing this energy," Miller explained.

City officials know the safety of the neighborhood can't exclusively fall on the shoulders of this group. Mayor London Breed also demanded city supervisors approve a supplemental $27.6 million to fund overtime for police officers, which are short-staffed by more than 500 officers throughout the city.

"The Urban Alchemy contract should be extended, people are being shot and stabbed and they still show up as an alternative to policing," said Breed.

Board President Aaron Peskin is one of four supervisors who have not sponsored the public safety funding boost. He told CBS News Bay Area he supports both programs but seeks to narrow the funds for each with the goal of spending the city's money most efficiently.

"I support the funding that they need," Peskin told CBS News Bay Area in an interview Tuesday. "It is incumbent on the Board of Supervisors to figure out what they need and what they don't need, so my guess is that it'll be south of $27 million. I think the board and the mayor agree that using non-uniform personnel like ambassadors like the services like Urban Alchemy is a good model which is why the board has funded it, but we have to ask 'Can we expand it, can we fund it, is it run well?'"