Flanked by more than a dozen progressive prosecutors from across the country, District Attorney George Gascon said Wednesday that data, science and social justice are the magic bullets in bringing law and order to Los Angeles County amid a surge in homicides and violent crime.
“We’re crafting thoughtful, humane policies that are helping to build safer and healthier communities. We’re addressing the root crime, root causes of criminal behavior and providing trauma-informed services to victims and survivors,” Gascón said during a sweeping two-hour news conference at the Hall of Justice to tout a list of accomplishments during his inaugural year in office.
“This change has allowed us to shift resources into prosecuting more serious crimes like homicides, sexual assaults, and putting more resources into building the support we provide to victims of crime.”
The District Attorney’s Office, now more than ever, is focused on high-crime communities by placing prosecutors alongside Los Angeles police, Gascon said. Prosecutors also are taking a hard-line approach to public accountability for elected officials and law enforcement officers, he noted.
In 2021, the District Attorney’s Office has charged 21 law enforcement officers from seven departments with alleged crimes ranging from murder to filing false police reports.
Mass incarceration rollback
“We also brought corruption and bribery charges against officials in the cities of Maywood and Industry,” Gascón said. “It is essential that we hold all government officials accountable when they break the law.”
Gascón also praised his staff for its diligence and determination to “roll back” mass incarceration. “Excessive (prison) sentences fail to recognize the way that people can and do change,” he said.
With capital punishment off the table in Los Angeles County, prosecutors are reviewing existing death penalty cases. So far, the District Attorney’s Office has succeeded in getting five inmates on death row — all with cognitive or intellectual disabilities, Gascon said — resentenced to life in prison without parole.
The District Attorney’s Office also has stopped charging juveniles as adults and eliminated sentencing enhancements, which have slashed 18,000 years in excess prison time for people convicted of serious offenses.
“By eliminating the enhancements, we ensure people have at least a chance to show that they have grown and changed over time,” Gascon said. “In addition, we are saving California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in prison-related costs that can be invested in building healthier and safer communities.”
Mindful of crime victims
Gascon said he is mindful of crime victims, but maintains that warehousing individuals in prison without rehabilitation is not the answer.
“Victims need and deserve so much more than that,” Gascon said, adding that the District Attorney’s Office has established a victims and survivors advisory board. “They deserve social and psychological support. They deserve a prosecutor to fully listen to what they want and what they need. A prosecutor’s office must do more to support victims after the crime has occurred… working tirelessly to ensure that no mother or father has to attend their child’s funeral because they have been harmed by crime.”
During the news conference, reporters challenged some of Gascon’s claims that his first year has gone swimmingly. The district attorney acknowledged that homicides are up in Los Angeles, but said his office bares no responsibility for a recent spate of smash-and-grab robberies.
“You’ve heard a lot of misinformation concerning this particular wave of crime,” he said. “Actually, most crime is down. And the reality is that we are prosecuting these cases when they get presented to us.”
Critics blast DA
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, which represents about 900 Los Angeles County prosecutors, disputed the rose-colored picture presented by Gascon, noting that homicides in the Los Angeles are up by nearly 47% this year compared with 2019 and the number of shooting victims has increased by nearly 51%.
“This mindless and tragic violence touches every community,” the union said in a statement. “Its victims are young and old, rich and poor, Black and White and Brown. And so are the perpetrators. The so-called ‘drivers’ or ‘root causes’ of criminality are too broad, too complex and too deep to lay at the feet of any one person, even someone who, without a trace of humility, calls himself ‘the Godfather of progressive prosecutors.’ “
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, who is leading a revitalized effort to recall Gascon, was more blunt.
“It is not an accomplishment to have helped create an emboldened criminal element and create victims because of his radical anti-victim, pro-criminal policies,” he said. “Gascón and his mostly recent public defender management staff are a major cause of crime and injustice in Los Angeles County.”
And during his weekly media availability Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva had harsh words for the district attorney and his press conference.
He slammed Gascon for creating a “permissive environment” for gun violence by refusing to pursue firearms-related sentencing enhancements. And he slammed Proposition 47, a criminal reform bill co-authored by Gascon that was approved by California voters in 2014.
“And now the chickens have come home to roost because he dropped all of these crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, and now he’s not even prosecuting the misdemeanors,” Villanueva said. “Is there anything left this person is going to prosecute?”
Others, however, praised Gascon’s compassion and social justice policies, particularly those impacting minorities and the poor.
“I am honored to be here today with my justice partners behind me, and to support District Attorney Gascon in his efforts,” said Sarah George, the Chittenden County States Attorney in Burlington, Vermont. “Any meaningful change in the American legal system begins with a recognition that the entire system is built on systemic racism and classism.”
Staff Writer Eric Licas contributed to this report.