SF police formerly led by LA District Attorney George Gascon endorse challenger

(The Center Square) - San Francisco police — formerly led by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon — formally endorsed his challenger, Nathan Hochman, through their association, citing the damage to San Francisco when Gascon was the city’s police chief and later, district attorney.

"We lived through Gascon's tenure as District Attorney in San Francisco, where he left us with skyrocketing crime and the nation's largest open air drug market,” said Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. “We urge you to reclaim your community's safety by voting for Nathan Hochman for L.A. County District Attorney.”

Gascon served as chief of the San Francisco Police Department in 2010 and 2011 until overseeing the county’s prosecution as San Francisco District Attorney through 2019, where he succeeded Vice President Kamala Harris. Gascon then ran for Los Angeles County District Attorney in 2020, receiving then-Senator Harris’ endorsement in the race against the incumbent fellow Democrat Jackie Lacey, a “tough on crime” prosecutor who was the first woman and first African-American to hold the office.

In Los Angeles, shoplifting has increased 62% in 2023 compared to 2022, while in San Francisco — where District Attorney Brook Jenkins replaced Gascon’s hand-picked successor in a recall over rising crime — shoplifting declined 21%.

With LAPD’s crime statistics website down since March of 2024 despite millions of dollars in spending and years past the FBI’s deadline to switch to a more modern, complete crime reporting system, it’s difficult for the public to assess the current state of crime in Los Angeles as voting season approaches in early October.