George Gascón

In 1978, Gascón joined the Los Angeles Police Department as a patrol officer.[7] After a three-year stint with the LAPD, he returned to work in business management.[7] He served as a reserve officer in the Hollenbeck Division of LAPD until 1987.[7] In 1987, he returned to LAPD as a full-time police officer.[8] Upon his return, he rose through the ranks of LAPD as a Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, and Deputy Chief in 2002.[9] During his time with LAPD, Gascón earned his J.D. degree from Western State College of Law in 1996.

In 2000, he took command of the LAPD training unit at the height of the Rampart Scandal.[7] He was in command of the LAPD training unit, overseeing the LAPD Academy and in-service training, during the federal government's oversight of police reforms. Even though there was a mandate for reform, then-Police Chief Bernard Parks did not allocate funding for additional training.[10] Gascón utilized a grant that had originally been funded to research community-policing strategies, and produced three hundred thousand additional training hours.[10]

One of his first orders as training commander was to create an ethics training manual for the LAPD.[10] He also implemented problem-based learning and posted a copy of the bill of rights in every LAPD classroom. Michael Gennaco, the former head of the United States Justice Department's civil rights division said at the time: “He fundamentally changed the way the LAPD teaches its officers about civil rights.”[7]

In 2002, Gascón applied to be the Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Police. He wanted to partner with community agencies to reduce California's prisoner-recidivism rate.[10] William Bratton was ultimately appointed Chief of Police.

In 2003, he was sworn in as Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department under Chief William Bratton.[9][11] In 2004, Gascón oversaw the daily operations of the department.[7] William Bratton credited Gascón with helping reduce the rate of violent crime in Los Angeles at that time.[12]

In 2006, Gascón was hired a Chief of Police for the Mesa Police Department.[13] Gascón had frequent clashes with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over immigration sweeps targeting Latinos. Joe Arpaio regularly conducted saturation patrols and immigration sweeps, targeting Latino neighborhoods and day laborers. Arpaio illegally stopped cars with Latino drivers or passengers to check their immigration status.[12][14] Gascón condemned the policies and tactics of Arpaio and his deputies, and actively worked to protect the Latino community in Mesa.[12]

Gascón served as chief of the Mesa, Arizona police department from 2006 to 2009.[15]

Gascón served as San Francisco Police Department chief from August 2009 to January 2011, succeeding Heather Fong. He was replaced by Greg Suhr.[16] In 2009, San Francisco saw a significant drop in homicides, falling from 96 in 2008 to 45 in 2009. Between 2009 and 2011, violent crime decreased in San Francisco.[17]

In 2011, in his last act as Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom appointed Gascón as San Francisco District Attorney, filling the seat vacated by Kamala Harris. In 2018, Gascón announced that he would not be seeking re-election, citing his need to care for his mother in Los Angeles.[18][19] He resigned from his San Francisco District Attorney position in October 2019.[20]

Gascón advocated for the end of monetary bail.[21] Gascón brought the Public Safety Assessment (“PSA”) tool to San Francisco to assist courts in making bail decisions more equitably. Initial results indicate that, compared to defendants released by the PSA, double the percentage of defendants were arrested while they were out on bail or their own recognizance.[22]

In 2018, Gascón announced that he would apply California's Adult Use of Marijuana Act retroactively to every marijuana case since 1975 in order to level the playing field for those adversely affected by the criminalization of marijuana. The move cleared misdemeanor convictions and reduced felony convictions for those entitled for record relief under the act.[23] He partnered with Code for America, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which kicked off a national movement resulting in dozens of cities across the country clearing marijuana convictions.[24]

Gascón supports ending the war on drugs. Prop 47, which was co-authored by Gascón, reduced simple drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor in California.[25]

Gascón implemented and launched the California's first prosecutorial data management system, similar to CompStat, called DA Stat.[26] This internal data collection tool is part of a trend toward "data-driven prosecution."

Gascón launched a Blue Ribbon Panel[27] to investigate a scandal in the San Francisco Police Department regarding homophobic and racist texts exchanged between over 14 police officers in 2014.[28]

In 2016, following recommendations of both the Department of Justice and Blue Ribbon Panel, Gascón secured funding to create the Independent Investigations Bureau, which investigates shootings involving police officers, excessive force, and in-custody deaths.[29]

Gascón helped launch San Francisco's Young Adult Court in 2015.[30] He described the program as “a hybrid of the adult and juvenile justice systems tailored to the biology and circumstances of offenders 18 to 24.”[30] In the program, a prosecutor refers a case to the Alternative Sentencing Planner (ASP) who determines if alternatives to incarceration in the community are appropriate.[31]

In 2019, Gascón supported San Francisco's move to close juvenile Hall, citing studies showing that incarceration of juveniles significantly increases a young person’s likelihood of recidivism and that "California’s juvenile facilities aren’t rehabilitating kids or making our communities safer."[32]

Gascon filed a civil complaint against Uber alleging that the company failed to protect drivers from sex offenders and other people who have been convicted of serious felonies.[33]

Gascon expanded the DA’s Charging Unit to support "weekend rebooking" in order to reduce the jail population and reduce time in custody for individuals who will ultimately not be charged with a crime.[34]

In 2019, Gascón announced he was running to be the District Attorney for Los Angeles County.[3] The Los Angeles Police Protective League contributed one million dollars to defeat Gascón.[35]

In the 2020 race for LA County DA, he indicated that he supported creating a civil rights division within the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.[36]

In 2013, Gascón wrote an op-ed in support of the ban of large capacity gun magazines (devices that hold more than ten bullets). He cited, among other things, the large number of mass shootings in the United States.[37]

Gascón coauthored Senate Bill 962, legislation requiring a “kill switch” on all smartphones sold in California.[38]

Gascón co-authored Proposition 47 that reduced many crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Proposition 47, according to one study, has reduced the disparity in arrests in San Francisco between Caucasians and African Americans by nearly half.[39] Some have criticized the law.[40][41][42]