A wide-awake Bay Area district attorney was the victim of a car break-in this week — but after waiting an hour for the police and then not showing up, she gave up and filed a report online.
Alameda County, Calif., District Attorney Pamela Price, who has faced repeated accusations of siding with criminals over crime victims had her work laptop stolen from a county vehicle parked outside the Alameda County Family Justice Center in Oakland on Friday afternoon, police confirmed to ABC7 News.
According to reports, Price’s bodyguard parked the $90,000 SUV outside while he attended a domestic violence event at the center. When he returned to the vehicle, the window had been broken and several items, including his work laptop, were missing.
ABC7 reports Price was told to file a report online if he didn’t want to wait for officers to respond.
After waiting at the scene for an hour and receiving no help, Price instead reported the incident online, an Oakland police department source told the outlet.
Price has courted controversy during his 11 months in office, including the resignation of two veteran prosecutors and condemnation from constituents for flouting sentencing guidelines. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Price, a graduate of Yale and Berkeley’s Boalt Law School, was elected to office in November with 53 percent of the vote after promising to “disrupt” the Alameda County prosecutorial convention.
The ultra-liberal DA has made a name for himself in his short tenure, vowing in a leaked internal memo obtained by the Berkeley Scanner to “bring balance back to sentencing and reducing recidivism.”
He also advised staff to bring lighter charges for serious crimes, prioritize probation over jail time in most cases and avoid enhancements that could extend prison terms for convicted criminals.
For some veterans of the DA’s office, Price’s policies have been a bridge too far.
Danielle Hilton, a prosecutor who served in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for nearly three decades, slammed Price for ignoring victims’ rights in a scathing resignation letter in April.
Alameda County Attorney Pamela Price had her work laptop stolen from a county SUV parked outside the Alameda County Family Justice Center in Oakland on Friday. Google Maps
“Under your leadership, the focus of the District Attorney’s Office has been taken over from defending victims who have been devastated by violent crime,” the letter read in part.
“Victims deserve better,” he wrote.
Less than a month later, a second, experienced prosecutor resigned, blasting Price as “demeaning and disrespectful” to the Asian community in his resignation letter.
Rebecca Warren, who worked in the DA’s office for more than 17 years, resigned as her deputy district attorney after Price refused to commit to a sentence increase in the slaying of 2-year-old Jasper Wu that would have made the suspect eligible for life in prison. without parole.
“I can no longer tolerate this bad treatment of AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islander] community by our office leaders,” wrote Warren, who is of Chinese descent.
At a tense community meeting attended by Price in July, distraught speakers lamented an out-of-control rise in crime in the once-stable area, from car thefts and home invasions to armed robberies and carjackings.
A steady increase in vehicle break-ins in Oakland has even prompted many drivers who park their cars downtown to leave their windows rolled down to signal the absence of any valuables inside to ward off would-be thieves.
Oakland leads the nation in car thefts, according to Market Watch, with 5,041 vehicles stolen in 2019 alone.
Following the meeting, a residents’ group called Save Alameda County for Everyone (SAFE) launched an effort to remove Price from his position, arguing that crime had spiraled out of control under his leadership.
“We know that recalling a public official is a long and arduous process that requires a significant and sustained grassroots effort, however, we are determined to remove Price from office, as our safety and that of our families is at stake,” the organization said on its website.
Earlier this month, SAFE began a petition drive to gather the 73,195 verified signatures from registered voters in Alameda County needed to recall Price in a potential special election in June. The deadline to collect signatures is March 5, and the group says it has received nearly 2,000 requests from volunteers who want to help collect the necessary signatures.
If the push succeeds, Price will share the same recent fate as fellow “woke” Bay Area District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was ousted from her position as San Francisco’s district attorney last June amid allegations of prosecutorial laxity and escalating harassment.
In response to this citizen-led effort, Price accused his critics of aligning with right-wing special interests and attempting a “coup” using the “January 6 playbook.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
