Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is reportedly cutting the county’s “hardcore gang” unit and narcotics units by half, according to several reports by local journalists.
Billionaire left-wing donor George Soros donated millions fo Gascón’s 2020 campaign, as part of a nationwide push to elect prosecutors who would pursue “criminal justice reform.” Gascón unseated Jackie Lacey, the first black woman in the DA job.
As Breitbart News has reported previously:
Gascón took office [in December 2020] and immediately pushed to end cash bail, bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, and end sentence enhancements for most aggravating circumstances.”
Prosecutors — and the public — have pushed back. Rank-and-file prosecutors won a preliminary injunction last month that blocked some of Gascón’s policies, and critics — including families of crime victims — have started an effort to recall him.
Last month, as Breitbart News noted, Gascón was reported to be considering eliminating or cutting the hardcore gang unit.
Bill Melugin of local Fox affiliate KTTV confirmed that report on Wednesday, noting that 700 active cases could be affected:
BREAKING: Sources in the LA County DA Office's Hardcore Gangs unit tell me they were just informed by upper management during a 4pm meeting that their unit is being downsized. Two weeks ago, I reported that DA Gascon was planning to do this. @FOXLAhttps://t.co/5HR5xtTbWS
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 31, 2021
Sources say management is admitting the rollout of this change will be a "nightmare" because the Hardcore Gangs unit has 700 active cases. I'm told downsizing lists have already been generated and prosecutors in the unit will soon be getting calls re: transfers. @FOXLA
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 31, 2021
According to the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, those cuts included the narcotics office as well:
Half of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Hardcore Gang and Major Narcotics units have been “officially cut,” a source within the office told The Signal on Wednesday.
The source, who asked to remain unnamed out of fear of professional reprisal, said two meetings occurred Wednesday, one at 3 p.m. for the Major Narcotics unit and another at 4 p.m. for the Hardcore Gangs unit, in which it was announced that approximately 50 lawyers from each unit would be transferred to other branches, the source said.
In addition to losing half of their deputy district attorneys, the Hardcore Gang Unit and its approximately 700 cases — which include complex cases that involve murder and other high-profile gang-related crimes — will be “reimagined” and “renamed,” the source said. District Attorney George Gascón’s staff also said those DDAs who remain with the new unit will be asked to set up community liaison relationships to work with the relevant law enforcement agencies to target specific gangs and specific gangsters in an effort to reduce community violence, the source said.
Last month, Gascón boasted after 100 days in office that he had succeeded in reducing criminal sentences in L.A. County by over 8,000 years thus far.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book is How Not to Be a Sh!thole Country: Lessons from South Africa. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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