New LA Official Throws a Bone to Criminals as Murders, Shootings Surge
A newly elected Los Angeles district attorney is ending cash bail and has vowed to stop the death penalty despite rising violent crime throughout the city.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who assumed office on Monday after defeating an 8-year incumbent, also seeks to end capital punishment and will stop the practice of trying juveniles as adults, according to CNN.
Gascón’s move may result in the release of hundreds of inmates as early as Tuesday.
40 years ago I walked my first beat as a young police officer.
Today, I was sworn in as the 43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/6pkjGgleQY
— George Gascón (@GeorgeGascon) December 7, 2020
“I recognize that these are big changes, but they are changes that will enable us to actually affect the truly vulnerable,” Gascón said.
Los Angeles has seen 308 murders so far in 2020, compared to 239 in all of 2019 — a 29 percent increase in homicides.
The city is also in the midst of an approximately 36 percent increase in car theft and a 33 percent uptick in shootings compared to last year.
Gascón, who now presides over the most populous county in the U.S., referred to the cash bail system as “unsafe” and “unjust.”
The money bail system is as unsafe as it is unjust.
Money is a terrible proxy for risk posed to society.
So today we will end cash bail for any misdemeanor, non-serious or non-violent felony offense.
And I will end bail completely January 1.
— George Gascón (@GeorgeGascon) December 7, 2020
“The rich can be dangerous while the poor impose zero threat to society. The amount of money a person has in their bank account does not determine the danger they pose to their community,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, a law enforcement union, said the DA’s move makes him an ally of “criminals and gang members.”
“As homicides, shooting victims, and shots fired into occupied homes soar in Los Angeles, it’s disturbing that Gascón’s first act in office is to explore every avenue possible to release from jail those responsible for this bloodshed,” the group told CNN in a statement.
“Victims and law-abiding residents lost a voice today while criminals and gang members gained an ally in the prosecutor’s office.”
Gascón also plans to reopen police shooting investigations from as far back as 2012.
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