The mayor of San Francisco says he's hiring 10 workers whose sole responsibility will be to clean up needles littering the streets.
San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell said Monday the team will respond to resident complaints and remove needles and syringes from "hot spots'' every day of the week.
Farrell tells the San Francisco Examiner that discarded syringes on the streets are among the top litter complaints in the city with a growing homelessness problem.
Public Health Director Barbara Garcia says the city will provide $750,000 to the AIDS Foundation to hire the new needle cleanup team.
She says she expects the workers would start as early as June.
About 275,000 needles are collected each month by the Public Health Department and nonprofits who provide syringes and safe disposal.