March 10, 2025 • 7 mins
A powerful exploration of law enforcement and public safety in LA's criminal justice system.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
up from a trial deputy, just like me.
I was actually on the samegrade four list as she was when
she got her grade four way backwhen when we were just youngins,
I guess and so she alsoendorsed you.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
You know Jackie is an amazing story.
She grew up in Crenshaw.
Her father actually was shot inhis front yard by gang members.
You know she went to law school.
She went right to the DA'soffice, was there over 30 years,
held most positions in thatDA's office until she finally
(00:36):
became the firstAfrican-American woman to hold
the position.
Interestingly, you know, on the.
You know Jackie is a Democrat,steve Cooley is a Republican.
Those US attorneys areDemocrats and Republicans.
And a point that Jackie made,what I thought was a very
important point for thiselection she says it's not about
politics, it's not aboutDemocrats versus Republicans,
(00:58):
because I know we've got a verypolarized society, we've got a
presidential election coming up.
But she says the DA's electionis unique.
It's a nonpartisan race soyou're not going to see even
party affiliation next to ournames on the ballots.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And it really is about who has the experience,
who has the blueprint, who cankeep you and your family safe
for the next four years, andthat's why I thought it was so
surprising to have Gascon runagainst Jackie four years ago,
because she was anAfrican-American woman who was
(01:37):
progressive and she was makingchanges.
Apparently.
It just wasn't fast enough forthem and so they brought in
Gascon from San Francisco to, Iguess, accelerate those changes.
But they were being donealready.
And so when you say it's notpolitics, it's like there were
two Democrats running againsteach other in that election and
it just.
It made, to me personally, nosense.
(02:00):
Jackie was, I believe, thisclose to actually winning it in
the primary when the Black LivesMatter showed up at her house
at 4.30 in the morning and herhusband, who was the nicest man
ever.
I worked with him on a numberof cases.
He was a forensic auditor forthe DA's office and when I was
(02:21):
in consumer protection, doingcases with hundreds of thousands
of victims, he helped analyzethe evidence's office.
And when I was in consumerprotection, you know, doing
cases with hundreds of thousandsof victims, he helped analyze
the evidence for me.
So and he, david, went down andanswered the door with a gun
and ultimately was charged, andthat's what I think ultimately
kept her from being able to bereelected.
And so now we've had this fouryears of this experiment which
(02:46):
has failed horribly, and it'sfrustrating to see what has
happened, but you give us hopethat there is going to be a
change.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Thank you very much.
You know, again, jackie ran ina very unusual situation that
summer, the summer of 2020.
That was the George Floydsummer the defund, the police,
the riots and protests in thestreets, you know, and George
Gascon comes in with promises, alot of promises.
I can fix all the problems inthe LA criminal justice system
(03:23):
and I guarantee you that I canbring more safety to the streets
rather than less.
Well, he hasn't fixed theproblems in the system and he's
basically taken our safety intothe abyss safety into the abyss.
The California Department ofJustice just came out recently
with the statistics of theviolent crimes and property
crimes and hate crimes over thelast four years.
(03:45):
They're all up double digitswith George Gascon.
In fact, shoplifting was up133%.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And yet he says that his policies are working to
reduce it, because crime is down.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Well, they are working for criminals.
If you're a criminal right now,if you don't vote for George
Gascon, wow, you are votingagainst your interest, Because
he is.
If anything, he's brought inthe dawn of the golden age of
criminals, which I hope to bringits sunset come November 5th.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
It's sunset come November 5th.
It's going to be a processbecause it's going to take a
while for the mindset of thecriminals, I think, to get back
to hey, we can't do this BecauseI think they're thinking they
can get away with it and in factthey brag about it 100%.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know we don't need to shoot for the 1960s or
the 1970s for the target ofsafety that we're looking for.
We only have to go back 10years to 2014.
2014 was considered our safestyear in the last 50 years.
And what was going right?
Well, you had a DA doing herjob.
That was Jackie Lacey.
You had the police understandthe DA's office was now their
(04:53):
partner, so they were doingtheir job.
You had victims know that ifyou dialed 911, someone would
not only pick up the phone, butthe DA's office and law
enforcement would help bringjustice to the harm you suffered
.
And, as importantly to yourpoint, criminals understood that
there were lines in the sand.
Those lines were our laws.
They were being consistently,fairly and impartially enforced,
(05:16):
but there were realconsequences on the other side
of the line.
So in that year, a historicnumber for the last 50 years of
criminals weren't committingcrimes.
Deterrence was working, andthat is the true goal.
That is the true test of theineffective criminal justice
system.
Not how many people you can putin jail.
It's how many people you candeter from committing the crimes
(05:39):
in the first place.
Walking to your car in a parkinglot I was at an event about two
(06:15):
weeks ago and a woman comes upto me and she says look, I'm 82.
I used to walk around myneighborhood.
I'm afraid I don't walk aroundmy neighborhood anymore.
And she says I don't know howmany more years I have, but you
got to fix this.
This is unacceptable.
She cause she's not, she can'tleave, she's got everything
(06:35):
invested in that house and allher friends, so she's not going
anywhere.
She said you got to fix this.
You got to win.
You got to get rid of Gascon.
You got to get LA County backon track.
I said, ma'am, I will doeverything in my power to make
that happen.
You
up from a trial deputy, just like me.
I was actually on the samegrade four list as she was when
she got her grade four way backwhen when we were just youngins,
I guess and so she alsoendorsed you.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
You know Jackie is an amazing story.
She grew up in Crenshaw.
Her father actually was shot inhis front yard by gang members.
You know she went to law school.
She went right to the DA'soffice, was there over 30 years,
held most positions in thatDA's office until she finally
(00:36):
became the firstAfrican-American woman to hold
the position.
Interestingly, you know, on the.
You know Jackie is a Democrat,steve Cooley is a Republican.
Those US attorneys areDemocrats and Republicans.
And a point that Jackie made,what I thought was a very
important point for thiselection she says it's not about
politics, it's not aboutDemocrats versus Republicans,
(00:58):
because I know we've got a verypolarized society, we've got a
presidential election coming up.
But she says the DA's electionis unique.
It's a nonpartisan race soyou're not going to see even
party affiliation next to ournames on the ballots.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And it really is about who has the experience,
who has the blueprint, who cankeep you and your family safe
for the next four years, andthat's why I thought it was so
surprising to have Gascon runagainst Jackie four years ago,
because she was anAfrican-American woman who was
(01:37):
progressive and she was makingchanges.
Apparently.
It just wasn't fast enough forthem and so they brought in
Gascon from San Francisco to, Iguess, accelerate those changes.
But they were being donealready.
And so when you say it's notpolitics, it's like there were
two Democrats running againsteach other in that election and
it just.
It made, to me personally, nosense.
(02:00):
Jackie was, I believe, thisclose to actually winning it in
the primary when the Black LivesMatter showed up at her house
at 4.30 in the morning and herhusband, who was the nicest man
ever.
I worked with him on a numberof cases.
He was a forensic auditor forthe DA's office and when I was
(02:21):
in consumer protection, doingcases with hundreds of thousands
of victims, he helped analyzethe evidence's office.
And when I was in consumerprotection, you know, doing
cases with hundreds of thousandsof victims, he helped analyze
the evidence for me.
So and he, david, went down andanswered the door with a gun
and ultimately was charged, andthat's what I think ultimately
kept her from being able to bereelected.
And so now we've had this fouryears of this experiment which
(02:46):
has failed horribly, and it'sfrustrating to see what has
happened, but you give us hopethat there is going to be a
change.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Thank you very much.
You know, again, jackie ran ina very unusual situation that
summer, the summer of 2020.
That was the George Floydsummer the defund, the police,
the riots and protests in thestreets, you know, and George
Gascon comes in with promises, alot of promises.
I can fix all the problems inthe LA criminal justice system
(03:23):
and I guarantee you that I canbring more safety to the streets
rather than less.
Well, he hasn't fixed theproblems in the system and he's
basically taken our safety intothe abyss safety into the abyss.
The California Department ofJustice just came out recently
with the statistics of theviolent crimes and property
crimes and hate crimes over thelast four years.
(03:45):
They're all up double digitswith George Gascon.
In fact, shoplifting was up133%.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And yet he says that his policies are working to
reduce it, because crime is down.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Well, they are working for criminals.
If you're a criminal right now,if you don't vote for George
Gascon, wow, you are votingagainst your interest, Because
he is.
If anything, he's brought inthe dawn of the golden age of
criminals, which I hope to bringits sunset come November 5th.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
It's sunset come November 5th.
It's going to be a processbecause it's going to take a
while for the mindset of thecriminals, I think, to get back
to hey, we can't do this BecauseI think they're thinking they
can get away with it and in factthey brag about it 100%.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You know we don't need to shoot for the 1960s or
the 1970s for the target ofsafety that we're looking for.
We only have to go back 10years to 2014.
2014 was considered our safestyear in the last 50 years.
And what was going right?
Well, you had a DA doing herjob.
That was Jackie Lacey.
You had the police understandthe DA's office was now their
(04:53):
partner, so they were doingtheir job.
You had victims know that ifyou dialed 911, someone would
not only pick up the phone, butthe DA's office and law
enforcement would help bringjustice to the harm you suffered
.
And, as importantly to yourpoint, criminals understood that
there were lines in the sand.
Those lines were our laws.
They were being consistently,fairly and impartially enforced,
(05:16):
but there were realconsequences on the other side
of the line.
So in that year, a historicnumber for the last 50 years of
criminals weren't committingcrimes.
Deterrence was working, andthat is the true goal.
That is the true test of theineffective criminal justice
system.
Not how many people you can putin jail.
It's how many people you candeter from committing the crimes
(05:39):
in the first place.
Walking to your car in a parkinglot I was at an event about two
(06:15):
weeks ago and a woman comes upto me and she says look, I'm 82.
I used to walk around myneighborhood.
I'm afraid I don't walk aroundmy neighborhood anymore.
And she says I don't know howmany more years I have, but you
got to fix this.
This is unacceptable.
She cause she's not, she can'tleave, she's got everything
(06:35):
invested in that house and allher friends, so she's not going
anywhere.
She said you got to fix this.
You got to win.
You got to get rid of Gascon.
You got to get LA County backon track.
I said, ma'am, I will doeverything in my power to make
that happen.
You
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