Paperwork was filed on Aug. 15 to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price because of overwhelming crime in the area and a perceived lack of support from her office, according to petitioners.
“We are unified in our belief that recalling Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is not only necessary, but critical to keeping our community safe and restoring public safety in our neighborhoods,” the group wrote on its website. “DA Price is failing us in her responsibility to enforce the law, prosecute criminals and keep violent offenders off our streets.”
Skyrocketing crime and a general sense of unease due to carjackings, home invasions, property crimes such as car break-ins and retail theft, and drug use are driving the desire to replace the district attorney, according to petitioners.
According to Oakland Police Department statistics, violent crime is up by 15 percent and burglaries by nearly 40 percent compared to last year. Homicides are up by 80 percent compared to 2019, authorities report.
Some, including those behind the recall, perceive the prosecutor’s office as too soft on crime and unwilling to take the steps needed to keep the community safe, according to the statement. Utility companies now have to hire security guards to protect crews working in the city.
Recent allegations of nepotism stoked angst among residents after the district attorney’s office hired Ms. Price’s boyfriend, Antwon Cloird, for a six-figure salary as a “senior program specialist” earlier this year. News reports indicate that Mr. Cloird was involved in an FBI investigation in 2015 related to extortion in the city of Richmond in the San Francisco Bay area.
Court documents from a lawsuit filed in 2016 in Contra Costa County allege that Mr. Cloird was involved in cash payments flowing from cannabis dispensaries to the Richmond City Council in a pay-to-play scheme, but it’s unclear what became of the investigations.
Mr. Cloird didn’t respond to requests for comment by press time.
“Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals,” Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Bishop Bob Jackson, senior pastor at Acts of Gospel Church of Oakland, said in a joint statement in July.
Talk of a potential recall began brewing earlier this year, and with organized efforts and 100 verified signatures supporting it, the recall petition was submitted to the county, with Ms. Price given until Aug. 22 to respond.
In response to the intent to recall being filed, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released a statement on Aug. 16 saying that such a move is unprecedented.
“The [Registrar of Voters] has not been required to conduct a recall election targeting a County of Alameda official for at least the past 30 years, if ever,” Donna Ziegler, county counsel for Alameda, wrote in the statement. “The [Registrar of Voters] is currently analyzing the relationship between the recall provisions set forth in the county charter and those found in state law to determine the path and timeline for conducting a recall of a county officer.”
Ms. Price didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ requests for comment.
While the registrar is checking its rulebook and preparing to handle the recall petition, some say that something needs to change, as lives are at risk and people are fearful while in their communities and at home.
“As an advocate for families who have lost loved ones, what I see now is something I have never seen before. There is a true disconnect on who is the victim,” said Brenda Grisham, another proponent on the committee to recall and mother of Christopher LaVell Jones—who was gunned down in front of his family home in Oakland in what police believe was a mistaken ambush on Dec. 31, 2010. “We all want a fair justice system, and that includes holding people accountable for their crimes.”
Mr. Gascón, elected at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020, is known for his progressive reforms of the county’s criminal justice system through what critics have called “soft-on-crime” policies, including eliminating sentencing enhancements for firearms, ending the death penalty, removing cash bail for misdemeanors or nonviolent felony crimes, and not charging minors as adults.
