OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — California Governor Gavin Newsom said Friday he’s taken the next step to boost prosecutions of criminal cases in Alameda County by sending California National Guard attorneys to help.
Newsom said Friday that state officials finalized a memorandum of understanding with the California Department of Justice, following nearly five months spent in talks with Alameda County’s District Attorney Pamela Price. He aims to crack down on cases involving narcotics violations, following up a similar partnership in San Francisco with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
"Today we’re advancing accountability and justice for East Bay communities, by quickly securing an agreement to provide additional resources to prosecute criminal behavior,” the governor said Friday.
The announcement comes after Newsom redeployed state attorneys previously assigned to Price’s office, saying that the chief prosecutor did not take the initial steps needed to deputize National Guard attorneys. The operations are part of Newsom’s focus on narcotics and traffic crime in Alameda County, despite the fact that overall crime in most categories is down in Oakland year over year.
Newsom also recently quadrupled the number of shifts which California Highway Patrol officers conduct in Oakland, focusing on investigations into possible narcotics violations. Since he launched CHP’s surge operation in Oakland six months ago, state authorities have arrested 562 people.
The increased surge operation will be in effect through October, officials said.
Price said in a statement Friday that the state prosecutors will be working on cases coming from the Alameda County Narcotics Task Force and CHP.
“What the public should know is that since March of this year, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has received 11 cases identified as ‘CHP surge’ cases,” Price said. "To the extent that there have been a large number of arrests related to CHP surge operations, our records do not reflect those cases being referred to this office for prosecution by either the CHP or DOJ.”
The Alameda County Public Defenders’ Office has also opposed the effort to use state prosecutors in the region for months. Using state lawyers to prosecute local cases will fuel mass incarceration and the further devastation of Black and Brown communities, Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods said in February. He said that the state did not provide new funding for defenders who will legally be needed in the cases set for prosecution, adding that his office’s budget is approximately $54.1 million per year while the chief prosecutor’s office receives $96 million annually.
Woods said Friday that the arrival of additional prosecutorial resources is "completely unnecessary," and in fact will increase his office's workload. He said Newsom never spoke to his office about the plan to add prosecutors to the county.
“I am deeply disturbed by the recent actions taken by the governor, ranging from sending more police to Oakland, the order to clear homeless encampments and now once again sending prosecutors to the East Bay to 'speed up' prosecutions," Woods said. "He appears to be helicoptering in and throwing more resources at prosecuting and incarceration, rather than real solutions.”
The partnership also comes amid a mounting attempt by some in the county to recall Price, who has been in office for less than two years.
Price is the county's first Black lead prosecutor and successfully campaigned for office by promoting increased police accountability. Recall funders now face an investigation from the California's Fair Political Practices Commission, after the county registrar in April said there are enough verified signatures to put the recall election on the ballot for voters to decide.
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