San Francisco Chief Of Police
Gascón served as San Francisco Police Department chief from August 2009 to January 2011, succeeding Heather Fong. He was replaced by Greg Suhr. In 2009, San Francisco saw a significant drop in homicides, falling from 96 in 2008 to 45 in 2009. At the time, Gascón attributed the dramatic drop in homicides to the policies enacted by his predecessor. Between 2009 and 2011, violent crime decreased in San Francisco by 3%.
In March 2010, Gascón made remarks about San Francisco’s susceptibility to terrorism by the “Middle Eastern community” that upset Arab-Americans. Several San Francisco police officers accused Gascón of calling African-Americans “those people” in “a derogatory way.” Gascón denied making those remarks.
Training Commander After Rampart Scandal
In 2000, he took command of the LAPD training unit at the height of the Rampart scandal. 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. Gascón used a grant that had originally been funded to research community-policing strategies, and produced three hundred thousand additional training hours.
One of his first orders as training commander was to create an ethics training manual for the LAPD. 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.”
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.William Bratton was ultimately appointed Chief of Police.
Early Life And Education
Gascon was born on March 12, 1954, in pre-Communist Cuba. Shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, his father lost his job for alleged anti-government activity, and his uncle, a union organizer, was jailed for over a decade. In 1967, Gascón and his family emigrated from Cuba to the United States.
The family settled in Bell, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. At the age of thirteen, Gascón enrolled in Los Angeles Unified School District schools where he struggled to learn English. He recalled: “I was spending hours translating everything with a Spanish-English dictionary. I started missing a lot of school.” By 1972, he dropped out of Bell High School.
Gascón joined the United States Army in 1972. In the army, he earned his high school diploma and two years toward an undergraduate degree. Gascón served in the 64th Military Police Detachment, much of it in Germany. In 1975, he received an honorable discharge as a sergeant. After the Army, Gascón completed a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State-Long Beach while working sales jobs.
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George Gascns Journey From Good Cop To Bad Prosecutor
The progressive darling began his career cracking down on crime in L.A.
Before he became one the nations most radical prosecutors, Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascón served as the “right arm” to LAPD chief William Bratton in the heyday of broken-windows policing.
From 1987 to 2006, Gascón was as dedicated to a tough-on-crime approach as he was to Bratton, who his assistant chief “my Patton.” His aggressive shift to the left, first as district attorney of San Francisco and now as Los Angeles’s top prosecutor, is a far cry from his earlier positions. But the transformation from Bratton acolyte to George Soros-backed prosecutor hasnt surprised those who knew Gascón during his police days.
“I dont think Gascón believes any of this stuff,” Thomas Marchetti, a former detective and 26-year veteran of the LAPD who served under him, told the Washington Free Beacon. “Hes a chameleon.”
“No one trusted him,” said former sergeant Steve Meagher, who served 2 of his 33 years in the department under Gascón, describing the future prosecutor as a striver: “It was all about him, all the time.”
Gascóns shift to the left has landed him in hot water. He now faces a recall over his handling of crime in Los Angeles. Since his election in 2020, Gascón has drastically reduced prosecutions, often at the expense of public safety. Homicides reached a 15-year high in Los Angeles in 2022.
One of his former colleagues has a different explanation.
Los Angeles Police Department
In 1978, Gascón joined the Los Angeles Police Department as a patrol officer. After a three-year stint with the LAPD, he returned to work in business management. He served as a reserve officer in the Hollenbeck Division of LAPD until 1987. In 1987, he returned to LAPD as a full-time police officer. Upon his return, he rose through the ranks of LAPD as a Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, and Deputy Chief in 2002. During his time with LAPD, Gascón earned his J.D. degree from Western State College of Law in 1996.
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Los Angeles County District Attorney
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In 2019, Gascón announced he was running to be the district attorney for Los Angeles County. Contributions against Gascón largely came from law enforcement groups, such as one million dollars from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, while contributions to his campaign came from progressive donors like George Soros, Patty Quillin and Reed Hastings. During the race, he indicated that he supported creating a civil rights division within the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He defeated incumbent DA Jackie Lacey on November 6. Gascon’s candidacy was endorsed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Dist Atty Jackie Lacey Cuts Ties With Group That Had Role In Trump Event
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Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Laceys campaign cut ties with a political fundraiser Friday after learning that it helped to organize an event this year aimed at boosting President Trumps reelection campaign, marking a politically awkward moment for Lacey as she seeks Democratic endorsements in her own reelection bid.
Trey Kozacik of the Pluvious Group sent fundraising emails on behalf of the Lacey campaign, and his name appeared on a flier promoting a $1,500-per-person event at a downtown sushi restaurant in support of Laceys reelection bid held Thursday night.
In April, Kozacik was listed as a point of contact on an invitation to a fundraiser in Los Angeles forTrumps reelection campaign, where donors could dine and snag a photograph with the president for $50,000.
Kozacik confirmed Friday that he had helped set up the Lacey fundraiser in downtown L.A. this week, but declined to comment further.
In a statement, Lacey said her campaign had been unaware of Kozaciks work with the Trump campaign, adding that neither he nor the Pluvious Group will be involved in her future fundraising activities.
I am the first Democrat in nearly 20 years to hold this office and the only major candidate in this race who is a lifelong Democrat. Mr. Kozacik has not been paid by our campaign, Laceys statement read.
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San Francisco District Attorney
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. He resigned from his San Francisco District Attorney position in October 2019.
Editorial On San Francisco’s District Attorney
District Attorney George Gascón did not flinch Thursday when asked about two issues that are generally considered toxic in San Francisco politics: His support for the death penalty and his longtime Republican registration.
Gascón said his position on the death penalty was “not terribly far away” from that of his predecessor, Attorney General Kamala Harris. He called it “an imperfect tool” that is expensive and time intensive because of the due process that is required for the ultimate punishment. He also raised concerns about the possibility of wrongful convictions.
But the newly appointed district attorney said there may be crimes “so heinous, so evil per se” that the death penalty would be warranted.
Gascón was even more expansive on his change of party registration. He said he had become increasingly alienated from the direction of the Republican Party in the “last eight or 10 years” – and especially during his tenure as police chief in Mesa, Ariz., where his party’s hostility toward immigrants made for “an incredibly difficult” period. He emphasized that he knows “a lot of thoughtful Republicans,” and his criticism was not aimed at all, but at the undue influence of the “extreme right.”
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Gascon A Former Republican Becomes A Democrat Ahead Of Political Run
District Attorney George Gascon.
George Gascón might be preparing to be a prosecutor, but he is already thinking like a politician.
On Thursday, the former police chief quietly changed his party affiliation to Democrat as he prepares to run for district attorney in the liberal stronghold of San Francisco, The San Francisco Examiner has learned.
After being hired as police chief in The City in August 2009, Gascón declined to state a party affiliation when he registered to vote here. But he was a registered Republican when he was police chief in Mesa, Ariz., according to records with the Maricopa County Department of Elections.
Also, in a 2008 Los Angeles Times article he described himself as a longtime Republican.
Gascóns Republican past will likely haunt him on the campaign trail, political consultant Jim Ross said.
Its important to be a Democrat running for any office . San Francisco is a strongly Democratic town, Ross said.
In an interview, Gascón told The Examiner he picked the political party to fit my beliefs. He said he voted for President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ive always voted for the person, he said.
As for his past GOP registration, Gascón said, If people think thats an issue, they can take their best shot. Ive never tried to hide it.
Also, he said, he takes issue with the GOPs stances on same-sex marriage and spending on social services.
District Attorney George Gascn
Former District Attorney for the City & County of San Francisco, and former Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, George Gascon is running for District Attorney to modernize LAs criminal justice system.
In 1967, Gascón, then 13, carried a cardboard suitcase with his mom, Maria, and dad, Marcos, and boarded a freedom flight from Havana, Cuba to Miami. They had nothing more than the clothes on their backs and a change of underwear in their cardboard suitcase. Within a week he and his family moved to Southeast Los Angeles and settled in Cudahy. He had difficulty learning English and keeping up with schoolwork, and Gascón ultimately dropped out of high school and started bagging groceries.
Once he turned 18, Gascón joined the army and quickly became the youngest sergeant in his brigade. He would earn his high school degree while simultaneously taking college extension courses, and after earning a four-year degree in history from Cal State Long Beach, Gascón got a job as a patrol officer in the Hollywood division of the Los Angeles Police Department.
George Gascón was elected the 43rd District Attorney on November 3rd, 2020.
District Attorney Gascón holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from California State University, Long Beach, and a Juris Doctor Degree from Western State University, College of Law.
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Investigations Of Police Officers
Gascón launched a blue-ribbon panel, which was set to investigate a scandal in the San Francisco Police Department regarding allegations that homophobic and racist texts had been exchanged between 14 or more police officers in 2014.
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.
Was George Washington A Republican Or Democratic President
George Washington was absolutely a Republican. He and the other founding fathers formed a Constitutional REPUBLIC, they were very clear about that. The word Democrat is derived from the word Democracy. The founding fathers despised democracy.
Article 4, Section 4 of the United States Constitution specifies that every State in the United States was to have a Republican form of government: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”
“Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” –John Adams, 1814
“The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.” –Thomas Jefferson, 1790
“A primary objectshould be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing on its legislature than to patronize a plan for communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”
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