San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin snaps back at critics who are accusing him of failing the city’s criminal justice system by saying the responsibility falls on to the police for poor clearance rate and a low number of reported crimes.
Tough on Crime
In an interview with Ken Basida, Boudin was frank on how his prosecutors were not to blame for the city’s surge of violent crimes amid a recall campaign that could remove him from office.
“Come down to the courthouse and watch what we’re doing. Any day of the week, any courtroom. You will see my veteran prosecutors handling cases ranging from shoplifting to murder and doing it with dignity and integrity and doing with zealousness,” Boudin said.
“The reality is the POA (police officers union) needs someone to point the finger at and this isn’t a new issue. Look they were blaming (Vice President) Kamala Harris and attacking her when she was the district attorney. This is an age-old problem in San Francisco because the POA wants to get away without doing their job. They want to get away with allowing their officers to send racist text messages, to use excessive force against the community, and to engage in systematic violations of civil rights of Black and brown drivers on our streets. And I’m pushing back and demanding that they modernize, that they reform, and that they respect all the members of our community,” the district attorney said.
Additionally, Boudin argued the police department had a very low clearance rate for crimes. He said officers were only making arrests on about 10% of all reported crimes. Boudin said no prosecutor cannot do their jobs if the police do not do theirs first, CBS Local reported.
