Gascón Pitches DA Candidacy to SF Young Dems

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón was a guest speaker last eve at a meet and greet event organized by the San Francisco Young Democrats held at Infusion Lounge. Photos by Luke Thomas.

By Luke Thomas

March 10, 2011

Seeking endorsements on the campaign trail, newly appointed District Attorney George Gascón was provided an opportunity last eve to pitch his candidacy to San Francisco Young Democrats during a meet and greet event held at Infusion Lounge.

The event provided the estimated 50 attendees an opportunity to hear Gascón make a case as to why he should be elected at large in November and for attendees to pose questions on several controversial issues including the death penalty, allegations of SFPD misconduct and perjury, Sit/Lie, safe injection sites, and the City’s inching towards authorizing the use of Tasers by law enforcement.

Party affiliation

Seemingly foremost on Gascón’s mind, a former Republican turned independent, was to douse criticism of his registering as a Democrat shortly after announcing he would run for DA.

During opening remarks, Gascón, a Cuban-American immigrant, explained how he became a Republican. He said he was born during the Cuban revolution when a band of armed rebels led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, overthrew the corrupt US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batistsa in 1959.

He said he saw “what repression can do,” adding that some of his family members were imprisoned during the revolution.

“When I left Cuba, as many Cuban-Americans did, my family were Republicans, quite frankly, before they even crossed the Florida Straits. So when we came here, even before we were US citizens, my parents were supportive of the Republican Party. And when I got out of the military and became a US citizen – it was sort of the done thing – you become a Republican, and I did.”

He said he did not agree with everything the Republican Party stands for just as he does not agree with everything the Democrat Party stands for, “But I believe today that the extreme right or the extreme left are not where America is most of the time.”

One attendee pointedly questioned Gascón’s registration to Democrat, calling the move, “a marriage of convenience.”

Gascón responded, “I have never in my life had any political ambitions. This was an opportunity that came at a very unexpected moment. I do want to get elected. I want to make sure that I reflect the values that I [unintelligible] and my philosophies and in my political decisions, and that’s why I became a Democrat.”

Illegal immigration takes center stage in Mesa, AZ

Before being selected to replace former SFPD Police Chief Heather Fong, Gascón served as police chief in Mesa, Arizona, where, he said, he became embroiled in a “in a very ugly, very nasty political fight” with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over “illegal immigration.”

“And many other people within the Republican Party, extreme right nativists, they basically wanted to do whatever they thought in their mind that they had to do in order to get rid of illegal immigration – illegal immigration almost being a code word for how do we get rid of Mexicans and other people of Latin descent,” Gascón said.

The actions of fellow Republicans in Arizona and other parts of the country left him “increasingly disappointed with the Party” over the issue of illegal immigration as well as social issues. His disgust with Republicans, prompted him, he said, to submit op-eds to the New York Times and the Arizona Republic.

Appointment to DA

His outspokenness on the issue of immigration as well as testifying before Congress resulted in him being “threatened often,” Gascón said. He was then encouraged to apply for the position of San Francisco Police Chief. He served as police chief for 18 months before accepting an appointment in January by then Mayor Gavin Newsom to serve as San Francisco District Attorney.

“When I was offered the opportunity (to run for DA following his appointment), multiple people came to me and said, ‘You know, politically and philosophically, you’re much more closer to a Democrat than anything that has to do with being a Republican, you should become a Democrat, and I did.”

US incarceration rates

Gascón surprised attendees during opening remarks when he said incarceration rates in the US are “unsustainable.”

“I believe that we have, unfortunately, we’re at a junction in our nation where we are incarcerating more people per capita than any industrialized nation in the world. We can no longer sustain that,” he said. “We cannot sustain it from a financial and economic point of view – and socially, I think it’s also bankrupt. We have destroyed entire communities in this country in the name of keeping crime down.”

“We want to make sure we have safe communities but we’ve got to make sure we start developing a different model, and I believe that as the DA in this county, not only can I do so here, but, quite frankly, more importantly, I can create political space for other DA’s around the country to do this,” Gascón added.

Q&A

During a question and answer session, Gascón re-iterated his support for Sit/Lie, a controversial ordinance passed by voters in November that provides police an “extra tool in the tool box” to deal low-level street crimes that previously required a complainant to file a police report as well as testify in court which, he said, discouraged residents from making complaints and filing charges.

For low-level crimes, Gascón said the community courts model, which he supports, provides defendants an opportunity to repay society for their crimes without being criminalized for them. The model also provides defendants wrap-around services, which, if declined, could lead to defendants being prosecuted in a criminal court.

Allegations of SFPD misconduct, perjury

On recent allegations of SFPD narcotics officers routinely engaging in misconduct and perjury to bolster convictions in court, Gascón said he “recognizes that while the majority of men and women in uniform work very hard and do the right things every day, there will always be some people that will violate the rules or the law.”

As many as eight officers are currently being investigated by FBI, the DA’s office and SFPD internal affairs, for allegedly falsifying police reports; for undertaking warrantless searches and other police misconduct including blocking a video surveillance camera to prevent arrest evidence being recorded. As many as 57 cases have been dropped or are in the process of being overturned as a result of video surveillance evidence released by Public Defender Jeff Adachi, evidence that contradicts police reports signed under penalty of perjury.

Gascón was the police chief when some or all of the alleged transgressions occurred.

“The allegations that are being made about these officers are extremely concerning and I have to repeat they are allegations until they are proven otherwise by a court of law,” Gascón said. “If, in fact, the investigations supports the proposition that these individuals committed perjury, or committed some other crimes, they will be prosecuted and dealt with accordingly.”

Death Penalty

Responding to a question about the death penalty, Gascón re-iterated he is not opposed to the death penalty “which is not the same as saying I support the death penalty.”

“Here’s my take on the death penalty,” Gascón said. “First of all, I think it’s a very blunt object or tool. I think that, generally speaking, it’s not very practical… It is very expensive. What I am not prepared to do, I am not prepared to say that I can anticipate to have the vision to see beyond the future that there will never be a crime that will be so heinous, so bad in itself, that I will not be exploring whether that case should be considered for the death penalty, which is very different than saying that I am a supporter of the death penalty.

“I do not believe that it [death penalty] is a deterrent, that’s why I am saying that I don’t necessarily support it. However, the law is the law… I do not believe that you will see my office seeking the death penalty very often. In fact, the likelihood is that you will never see it, or if you see it, it will be very rare.”

Safe injection sites

Asked whether he supports safe injection sites, Gascón said he supports harm reduction.

“I absolutely support it… It’s a public health issue and we have to do all we can to assist in reducing not only HIV but other diseases that have occurred.”

“I think drug use, in general – and I separate drug use from drug sales – I view it as a public health issue and I think that we need to figure out better ways to deal with it,” he said. “I think that, frankly, what is going on in Mexico, for instance, we were very quick to point the finger at the violence in Mexico, but the reality is it was going on in Mexico because we have an incredible appetite for this stuff and we created the demand and we are really destroying this nation as well as other nations around the world.”

“We need to look at it from a public health issue as opposed to a crime,” Gascón added.

Tasers

Responding to a question about Gascón’s request to the Police Commission to authorize the use Tasers, Gascón said, “The Taser has been abused by police agencies around this country, undoubtedly… The Taser, first of all, it is not non-deadly. It has never been non-deadly. It has been presented like that by some people, but it never has been. It is a less deadly tool. Now I can tell you that it is much less likely to kill someone than a firearm is to kill someone. I believe that under the right set of circumstances, there are often police uses of force that lead to great bodily injury, not only to the offender, but to officers and others that could be significantly reduced if a Taser is used in an appropriate manner. The horror cases that you see about the Taser are cases where the Taser has not be used in the way that it should be use. Because some people have abused the Taser, I don’t think it’s a good enough reason to say that we don’t want the San Francisco police department to have it.”

“It is a tool,” Gascón added. “It is a tool that can be abused, but it’s also a tool that if it’s properly structured in training and policy and oversight, it can be a very useful tool and it can actually save lives and there’s evidence of the Taser saving lives and reducing injuries in departments where comparisons have been made.”

In a follow up interview, Gascón was asked to comment on the State of Illinois becoming the 16th State to abolish the death penalty and whether his position on the death penalty in liberal San Francisco might hurt his campaign for DA. He reiterated his non-opposition to the death penalty.

“I hope that people judge me on my actions as opposed to ideological statements,” he said.

Luke Thomas

Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: