DA George Gascón’s First Year In Office - A Virtual Conversation

Some hail Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón as the leader of a nationwide movement to end the draconian policies of a racist criminal justice system. Others say he’s embarked on a dangerous experiment that will lead to more crime.

It’s hard to overstate how much Gascón has changed how people are prosecuted in L.A. He’s ordered his prosecutors to seek shorter prison sentences for people who are in gangs and for those who use a gun during the commission of a crime. He no longer prosecutes a range of misdemeanor crimes, including drug possession and resisting arrest. He’s promised closer scrutiny of the police and already has charged an officer with assault for shooting someone. And he’s begun the process of trying to reduce the sentences of people who have spent many years in prison.

On December 8, KPCC/LAist Criminal Justice Correspondent Frank Stoltze had a conversation with the DA on the occasion of his one-year anniversary leading the county’s largest local prosecutor’s office.

Watch the archive video at the top of the page.