2008: 26 Homeless deaths

Only 26 homeless people died on our streets last year, the lowest number since 1986, when the body count was 54. (There were 86 deaths in 2006 and 44 in 2007.) Since the city no longer does an official count, I've been doing an unofficial count for the last several years, based on copies of the Public Health Department's Homeless Death Form, which was created in 2005. During the 1990s, there were on average more than 100 deaths every year among the homeless in SF. The steep decline is surely another sign of success of the homeless policies of the Newsom administration, which has moved thousands of homeless off city streets since Care Not Cash went into effect in 2004. My favorite homeless program is Homeward Bound, which gives folks a bus ticket back to where they came from. As of November 2, 2007, the city had bused 2,503 homeless people outtahere at an average cost of $149. Since January 2004, the city has helped 6,388 homeless single adults into permanent housing.

Name: Paul Lenz
Age: 41
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of death: homicide
Method: asphyxia
Place of death: Ocean Beach
Date of death: 1/15/2008

Name:Michael Fletcher
Age: 53
Sex: male
Race: white
Place of Death: encampment @ 1701 Lin
Date of death: 1/20/2008

Name: Konstantinos Amberoglu
Age: 55
Sex: male
Race: white
Place of Death: SFGH-ER
Date of death: 1/20/2008

Name: Stephen Nutter
Age: 39
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of death: homicide
Method: vehicular
Place of incident: 1000 blk of Great Highway
Place of death: SFGH
Date of death: 1/27/2008

Name: Shelly Tudor
Age: 46
Sex: female
Race: white
Manner of Death: suicide
Method: firearm
Place of Death: trailhead
Date of death: 1/27/2008

Name: Leonard Michael Cole
Age: 55
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: SFGH
Date of death: 1/27/2008

Name: Calvin Waller
Age: 50
Sex: male
Race: black
Manner of Death: natural death
Place of Death: Porta-Pottie IFO 2031 S
Date of death: 2/11/2008

Name: James Hill
Age: 37
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: 1st Fl. Bathroom 100 Larkin
Date of death: 3/07/2008

Name: Kevin McCaughey
Age: 40
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: 7th and Market
Date of death: 3/11/2008

Name: Robin Kent
Age: 44
Sex: female
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: IFO 750 Harrison St.
Date of death: 3/12/2008

Name: William Bradford
Age: 60
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: Lake St.
Date of death: 3/15/2008

Name: Katrina Mae Morales
Age: 28
Sex: female
Race: white hispanic
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: SFGH emergency
Date of death: 3/17/2008

Name: Richard Smith
Age: 45
Sex: male
Race: black
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: Cal-Train tracks
Type of case: train vs. ped
Date of death: 3/23/2008

Name: Daniel Kissel
Age: 47
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: under bridge @ Beale & Ho
Date of death: 3/30/2008

Name: Peter Knowles
Age: 56
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: 2026 Lombard St.
Date of death: 4/03/2008

Name: Joel Beverly
Age: 62
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: public parking lot
Type of case: IPV
Date of death: 4/13/2008

Name: Vitelio Zamora
Age: 62
Sex: male
Race: white hispanic
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: IFO 3351 23rd Street
Date of death: 7/05/2008

Name: Franklin Talesfore
Age: 45
Sex: male
Race: white
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: IFO 166 Embarcadero
Date of death: 7/12/2008

Name: Richard Shierk
Age: 42
Sex: male
Race: white
Type of case: IPV
Place of Death: 1700 Chestnut
Date of death: 7/12/2008

Name: Richard Michael Weiland
Age: 53
Sex: male
Race: white
Type of case: poss 187 assault
Place of Death: corner of Taylor @ Turk St.
Date of death: 7/16/2008

Name: John Chambers
Age: 54
Sex: male
Race: white
Type of case: found dead IPV
Place of Death: Embarcadero @ Harris
Date of death: 8/14/2008

Name: Jean Hary
Age: 49
Sex: male
Race: black
Type of case: acute ETOH
Place of Death: St. Mary's
Date of death: 9/22/2008

Name: Steven Yarger
Age: 53
Sex: male
Race: white
Type of case: poss assault
Place of Death: SFGH
Date of death: 9/26/2008

Name: Cesar Arneola
Age: 56
Sex: male
Race: white hispanic
Manner of Death:
Place of Death: 525 5th Street
Date of death: 10/6/2008

Name: Jesus Virgen Rojo
Age: 59
Sex: male
Race: white hispanic
Type of case: IPV
Place of Death: 2531 Mission Street
Date of death: 10/06/2008

Name: Julian Pedro Diaz-Lira
Age: 39
Sex: male
Race: white hispanic
Manner of death: app. fall
Place of Death: SFGH
Date of death: 11/02/2008