Newsom Shifts Resources Offered to Oakland Area DA After They Go Unused

California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers remarks to reporters at Mather Airport in Mather, Calif., on Sept. 13, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on July 10 rescinded its offer to help the Alameda County district attorney—whose jurisdiction oversees Oakland—with drug crime prosecutions.

“Despite our outreach, your office has yet to make use of these resources,” Mr. Newsom’s Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson wrote in a letter to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

“Accordingly, we have decided to shift these resources to the Attorney General’s Office, where they will be utilized to work on state-led prosecutions originating from Alameda County.”

Earlier this year, Mr. Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that they would redirect state prosecutors to Alameda County amid a recent surge in crime in the county.

“An arrest isn’t enough. Justice demands that suspects are appropriately prosecuted,” Mr. Newsom said at the time.

But, according to the letter, “several months of communications” have passed since the announcement, and Ms. Price’s office has “not taken the initial steps of finalizing the memorandum of understanding or deputizing [California National Guard] attorneys” to work in the office.

The letter also noted that the Newsom administration directed multiple state law enforcement agencies to focus on Alameda County and Oakland “to crack down on criminal activity” such as violent crime, car thefts, and retail theft.

“To improve public safety in Alameda County and throughout California, the governor is committing to leveraging state resources to ensure they are used effectively,” the letter reads.

The governor deployed about 120 California Highway Patrol officers in February to police Oakland and Alameda County.

Ms. Price is fighting against a November recall election that is partially fueled by public concerns over crime in the city. In May, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors decided that the recall will come alongside the general election, which will include federal, state, and local elections.

Ms. Price, a Democrat, was elected district attorney in 2022 after running on a left-wing criminal justice reform platform. Since she was elected, the district attorney has barred prosecutors from initiating enhanced sentences to increase prison terms in many cases, instead telling them to offer probation.

Critics of Ms. Price, including those who have backed the effort to recall her, have said that she is too lenient on crime.

Supporters of the district attorney say that she has been targeted by wealthy conservatives who do not want to reform what they describe as a racist and flawed criminal justice system. They say she should have more time to make good on her campaign promises.

During an interview in March, Ms. Price told the San Francisco Chronicle that she believes the recall is based on “hatred and racism” and said that longer sentences “do not reduce crime.” She said that crime was rising before she took office under the tenure of Alameda’s previous district attorney, Nancy O’Malley.

“They have flooded social media and the media with misinformation; they are essentially making things up without any kind of foundation or any understanding actually of how prosecution works,” she said at a news conference in mid-May, referring to the recall organizers.

The recall effort bears some similarity to one that targeted San Francisco’s previous district attorney, Chesa Boudin, who was ousted in 2022 amid concerns over crime in the city.

The Epoch Times contacted the Alameda County District Attorney’s office for comment but received none by press time. As of July 11, her office had issued no public comment on the Newsom administration letter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.