LOS ANGELES, CA — Amid the current momentum of voters apparently wanting tougher policies on crime and violence, District Attorney George Gascón officially reflected on all of the “transformative achievements” and “justice reforms” accomplished during his term, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office (LADA).
A statement was released by the DA last week after Gascón lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 6.
“I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made in creating a more fair, transparent, and accountable justice system,” said District Attorney Gascón.
The Media Relations Division from the LADA emphasized Gascón’s tenure having a focus on increased accountability and community safety on top of these “landmark reforms,” listing keywords of increasing filings of violent crimes and organized retail theft.
Gascón’s leadership also saw increased protections of reproductive rights and gun safety via partnerships with prosecutors and local law enforcement, according to the statement.
“LADA was ranked the most effective legislative advocacy organization of 2024, with an 89 percent success rate in securing adoption of its positions on bills by the state legislature,” the statement read.
The LADA during Gascón’s tenure also supported bills such as AB 2907 (enhancing “protections for victims of domestic violence, stalking, and elder abuse against gun violence”), SB 55 (combating catalytic converter theft), AB 1261 and SB 836 (protecting immigrants).
Voters have been experiencing a growing trend of being anti-violence and crime since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and LADA addressed these concerns by continuing to “report a decrease in crime in 2024, in line with national trends,” said Gascón’s office.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s latest report includes double digit decreases in homicides YTD and LAPD overwhelmingly reports that 2024 has the lowest crime comparisons to 2022 and 2023,” noted the statement.
“(We have) hired an additional 30 victim service representatives to assist survivors of crime, victims’ families, and witnesses with navigating the criminal justice system and accessing available resources in the aftermath of a crime,” the LADA asserted.
The Office continued, highlighting support for victims and survivors of violence of all types, establishing their “first-ever Crime Victims Advisory Board” to “ensure victims and survivors voices were consistently represented in the work of the Office” and closing the “communication loophole between the courts and law enforcement to strengthen (Domestic Violence Restraining Order) DVRO protections.”
“(We have also) established the Office’s first-ever Labor Justice Unit to combat wage theft, filing cases that exposed exploitation and unsafe working conditions” and “seven community advisory boards (AAPI, LGBTQ+, Crime Victims, African American, Latine, Women, and Interfaith) to bring diverse perspectives into prosecutorial policies,” the Office stated.
In addition to introducing legislation to protect the victims, LADA added it has also been concerned with another aspect to the incarceration system, focusing on youth justice, innocent exonerations, second-chance rehabilitations, challenges to the death penalty and the “Three Strikes Law.”
The Office writes it has “stopped seeking the death penalty as an irreversible, expensive and ineffective punishment,” and instead successfully “resentenced 38 people on death row from Los Angeles County to life without the possibility of parole,” while also exonerating 15 wrongfully-convicted accused with the tripled expansion of the Conviction Integrity Unit.
Research showed, said the Office, that “longer prison sentences fail to enhance public safety and disproportionately impact marginalized communities,” citing the statistics as a motivation to challenge the state Three Strikes Law’s “automatic imposition” and end gang enhancements, according to the statement.
“From local policy to statewide initiatives, our work has laid the foundation for a justice system grounded in prevention, compassion, and accountability, paving the way for future progress,” Gascón said.
Gascón had even pursued accountability on the law enforcement’s end, charging “nearly 150 law enforcement personnel for crimes ranging from DUI to voluntary manslaughter,” marking the phenomenon as “unprecedented” as of to date in the statement, he said.
“D.A. Gascón filed 12 criminal cases involving the on-duty use of unreasonable force on 19 officers, and six cases arising from on-duty officer-involved shootings against eight officers, for a total of 18 cases involving 27 officers from 2021 through 2024,” the statistics read.
“By comparison, the Lacey administration filed one officer-involved shooting case from 2012 to 2020 and the Cooley administration filed none from 2000 to 2012,” the report continued.
Gascón’s leadership saw a maintenance of a “hate crime charge filing rate of 84 percent, more than double the statewide average, and launched innovative restorative justice programs like REACCH to combat bias and hate,” stated statistics provided by the Office.
Gascón’s push for reforms and effective percentages also come with increased transparency and community engagement, according to LADA.
“(We have) hosted over 100 town halls, community events, and public forums, bridging trust between the District Attorney’s Office and the communities we serve,” the Office stated. “(We have also) expanded community and public access by live-streaming all press conferences, increasing media availability, press conferences, and press releases.”
“Thanks to the dedication of our staff, community leaders, and the people of Los Angeles County, we’ve advanced a racially equitable system that prioritizes safety, equity, and the rights of all,” Gascón said. “From local policy to statewide initiatives, our work has laid the foundation for a justice system grounded in prevention, compassion, and accountability, paving the way for future progress.”
However, he warned that these reforms need to be built on for continued change in the Office’s next chapter.
“The work is far from over. Justice is not static—it evolves. It requires us to listen and lead from a place of compassion and courage,” Gascón concluded. “Our office has shown that reform and public safety can coexist. I hope these achievements serve as a blueprint for future progress.”
