Top cop: S.F. isn't Holland
Loose Dutch laws on pot, prostitution are unlikely here
By Jim Herron Zamora
of the EXAMIER STAFF

Seeking to quell speculation that The City might soften enforcement of
prostitution or marijuana statutes, Police Chief Fred Lan has put out
the word: "We're still here to enforce the law."

After Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders spent a week in Amsterdam
recently and publicly discussed Dutch policies of legalized prostitution
and hashish, the department has been besieged with inquiries if there is
any such policy change in the works in San Francisco, Lau said.

"We're committed to vigorous enforcement of all laws," Lau said
Thursday. "Until the laws are changed, we'll enforce the laws here in San
Francisco through community policing."

Lau said the department has much to learn from other jurisdictions,
including Amsterdam. But that doesn't mean the department would ever
consider weakening drug or prostitution laws here, he added.

"Although we'll study jurisdictions throughout the country and the
world we're here to serve the people of San Francisco," Lau said. "No
matter what we learn or what we see in other places, we're always going
to sit down and discuss with our communities and determine our
priorities."

Sanders never actually advocated legalization of drugs or prostitution
but he admitted he was very impressed by the way things are done in the
Netherlands.

With prostitution legal and marijuana officially tolerated, Amsterdam has
some of the most liberal laws in the world. The deemphasis on cracking
down on vice crimes has left police there more time to pursue hard drug
dealers who traffic in cocaine and heroin, and organized crime leaders,
Sanders said earlier this week.

Among people in San Francisco including some in the law en forcement
community there has been a more tolerant attitude toward certains types
of illicit behavior....