By The FirstLA Sheriff Alex Villanueva blamed lenient District Attorney George Gascon for the crime wave sweeping the nation’s second largest city this week; saying cases “fall apart” when they reach the DA’s office.
“I have never met him in public, I’ve had one phone call with him,” Villanueva told Fox News.
According to the Sheriff, his department presented more than 13,200 cases to Gascon’s office that were ultimately rejected.
“Astonishing number of cases,” said Villanueva. “These are people that did bad things that left a victim, have the evidence presented and they said ‘don’t bother.”
From Fox News:
Some include ordering his deputy district attorneys to stop seeking enhancement allegations, which can significantly extend prison sentences, not seeking the death penalty and barring prosecutors from charging juveniles as adults, regardless of the severity of the allegations.
During the campaign, Gascon responded to a Ballotpedia survey saying “LA County deserves a more effective and progressive DA that enhances community safety without over incarcerating our communities.”
The recall campaign’s organizers have said Gascon’s policies are “soft on crime,” and that he should be ousted to “keep communities safe.” The campaign announced this week that it had gathered 400,000 signatures. Nearly 567,000 are needed by the July 6 deadline.
