One of the more important and most overlooked races going on in San Francisco right now is the campaign to be the city’s next district attorney. When Kamala Harris left the post for state office last year, outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed then-Police Chief George Gascon to take her place. Now, Gascon is running for a full four-year term, but faces stiff competition from four other candidates. Yesterday, we spoke with Bill Fazio. Today, we turn to David Onek, a longtime criminal justice reformer and founding director of the Center for Criminal Justice at UC-Berkeley’s Law School.
David Onek
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Tonight: DA candidates debate
- George Gascon, Sharmin Bock, David Onek, Vu Trinh
In an interview with the Fog City Journal, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said this of the San Francisco mayoral race: “As many people as we think know about this, even if it’s a thousand or so, we’re all insiders and it doesn’t really click with the electorate until around after Labor Day and October.” When you consider there that Ammiano there is talking about the competition to become the city’s top public official, it’s hard to believe how much attention the race for a considerably more obscure office, district attorney, is already getting.
The DA candidates debate: Part 2
San Francisco’s three candidates for district attorney faced off in a church basement last night in a debate sponsored by the Noe Valley Democratic Club.
The debate, hosted by columnist and blogger Melissa Griffin, featured a number of themes that have come up regularly in this highly charged race:
The race for San Francisco district attorney heats up
Troy Holden
San Francisco’s next district attorney will deal with police scandals, an evolving prison system, and budget cuts, among the myriad crimes, policies, and politics an average prosecutor encounters. Who will that person be? So far, we have three people in the running:
Bay Guardian, former Police Commissioner question Gascón over shooting records
Ali Winston
District Attorney and former police chief George Gascón's office is refusing to release documents related to police shootings
Last week, we wrote about San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón’s denial of our Public Records Act request for a decade’s worth of DA’s clearance letters of officer-involved shootings. Clearance letters are the document issued by many district attorney offices when they clear an officer of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting of a civilian.
David Onek, a former San Francisco Police Commissioner who is running for District Attorney next Fall, wrote about Gascón’s denial of our records request this morning for the political blog Calitics. Here’s an excerpt from Onek’s entry:
“As a former Police Commissioner, I have been briefed in closed session on the details of officer-involved shootings. But the public knows very little about these incidents. My fellow Commissioners and I often heard complaints from community members about how little public information was released about officer-involved shootings. This lack of transparency breeds distrust.
In all officer-involved shootings, the DA’s office conducts an independent review to determine if there is criminal liability. If such liability is found, the DA presses charges, which are public. But when the DA determines that there is no liability, it is equally important that the DA publicly explain the reasons for its decision.”
I gave Onek a ring to clarify his stance on the letter. He said the biggest point at issue is trust in the police department. “A lot of people in the community don’t trust police,” Onek said. “Transparency is the key to building public trust and public trust is the key to making every community safer.”
The San Francisco Bay Guardian has also taken up the matter in a blog post by Sarah Phelan this afternoon, while San Francisco Examiner reporter Brent Begin also wrote on the growing flap over clearance letters.
Q&A: Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts
In Episode #12 of David Onek’s criminal justice conversations series, Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts discusses his goals as Oakland’s new Chief, the importance of working with the community, his efforts to reduce police response times, how his doctorate degree has helped him in his policing career, and more.
Q&A: San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon
David Onek sits down with SFPD Chief George Gascon to talk about ethics, lowering costs, and the racial disparities in incarceration rates.
Q&A: President of the California Police Chiefs Association
David Onek, Senior Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Criminal Justice, sits down with San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer to talk about her time as one of the first women at the SFPD, community policing, and the robbery that led her into law enforcement.