California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that state National Guard prosecutors will take over cases in Alameda County, a setback for progressive District Attorney Pamela Price.
Newsom made the announcement Monday, months after the California Highway Patrol was expanded and deployed to Oakland to help local authorities fight crime.
The Democrat said the National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force has finalized an agreement with the California Department of Justice. The agreement is “modeled after a successful partnership established in San Francisco with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, which has contributed to an increase in drug convictions in San Francisco.”
Newsom added: “I am grateful for the swift work of the Attorney General and the California National Guard to finalize this agreement quickly so that these talented attorneys can help quickly obtain justice for the people of the Bay Area.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced that state National Guard prosecutors will take over cases in Alameda County
Price is the last progressive district attorney who campaigned on a platform of offender rehabilitation and police accountability and is at risk of being recalled.
Earlier this year, the governor withdrew an offer to send prosecutors to Oakland to help crack down on rising crime in the San Francisco Bay Area city, which has drawn national attention for brazen daylight robberies.
Newson said at the time that Price’s office had not benefited from the offer because it had missed the application deadline. Price denied this.
In response to Gavin’s move, Price released a statement saying she welcomes the prosecutors.
Price added: “We are hopeful that the swift agreement reached between the Department of Justice and CalGuard will also produce swift results, and my office stands ready to cooperate in any way possible to achieve that.”
Newsom has also deployed more than 100 California Highway Patrol officers to assist in targeted operations against criminal activity in Oakland, a city of 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco.
San Francisco is seeing an increase in violent crime, including serious drug-related offenses, shoplifting and car break-ins, even as crime rates are declining in other urban centers in California.
Price is yet another progressive district attorney who campaigned on the principles of criminal rehabilitation and police accountability and is eligible for an impeachment vote in November.
San Francisco is seeing a spike in violent crime, including serious drug-related crimes, shoplifting and car break-ins, even as crime is falling in other urban centers in California
A homeless camp in Oakland, California
The district attorney is fighting her impeachment just two years after she was elected in November 2022, months after San Francisco voters removed Chesa Boudin from her post as top prosecutor.
Like Price, Boudin was a political novice in his first term as district attorney, and his critics gathered enough signatures to put the issue before voters.
Before taking his new role, Price was a civil rights attorney, advocating for women, victims of domestic violence, and youth caught up in the criminal justice system.
Her opponents say she has emboldened criminals at a time when Oakland, the county’s most populous city, has reported a rise in crime, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to deploy highway patrols and state prosecutors to help.
Her supporters say Price is being targeted by wealthy conservatives unwilling to reform a flawed and racist criminal justice system, and they say she should be given more time to fulfill her campaign promises.