January 10, 2025 • 8 mins
Bill talks with Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman about the the historic wildfires burning through LA and the crime going on in the evacuation zones.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I want to introduce and thank you LA County District
Attorney Nathan Hawkman. Thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Us my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
On sure And do you mind if I call you
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman, just to be.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Informal, absolutely and call me that you can call me.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Okay, got it all right, let's go to Nathan. Why
not you can call me mister Handel. By the way,
that's not a problem. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh, let's let's get serious.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
For a moment, because you talked about the crime that's
being committed in terms of looting, and uh, that's a
felony or being in an evacuation area where you should
not be as in you're not a resident. Uh, it's
and I'm trying to put it into words. It used
(00:54):
to be and a married many jurisdictions overseas where looters
are shot on sight because it is such a dangerous
crime relative to anarchy and simply the falling apart of
society as we know it. And you talked about that,
So let's talk about that your position and what you
(01:16):
are going to do upon the arrest of someone who
is accused of looting.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So yeah, this tragedy is immense. I am part of
the over one hundred and eighty thousand people who have
been evacuated in Pacific Palisades, where my sister used to
have a home with her husband and four boys at
home doesn't exist anymore. I had a chance to walk
and drive it through the fire ravaged areas and it
(01:42):
is nothing short of apocalyptic. So with this tragedy, sadly,
certain people in society view is an opportunity. And I'm
talking directly to the criminals out there. I want them
to have an unmistakably clear message that if they want
to loose, if they want to steal, if they want
want to commit burglary, robbery, or any similar offense, they
(02:03):
will be arrested, they will be prosecuted, and they will
be punished to the maximum extent of the laws. I
send this out as a warning so that nobody can
have any confusion later on as to what the what
the consequences will be for their actions. And I'm hoping
that people heed that warning and don't commit these crimes.
But sadly, there will be people who will commit them,
(02:26):
and when they do, they will be punished and When we.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Talk about prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law,
what does that mean in terms of consequences.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
So it's felonies, right, there's grand fact, there's burglary. Looting
has both a felony and a misdemeanor component to it.
There's state prison, there's county jail, there's community service, there's restitution.
You still you're going to pay it back. There's damage
that you can be that you could have caused others
(02:56):
you'll have to pay back. And this is a situation
where we will seek maximum penalties against people who decide
to take advantage of this incredible tragedy. Their actions are
despicable and nothing less.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Right, and usually there's a reputation. And I know you're
turning this around, and one of the reasons you got
elected is we came from a policy of and I'll
say this, coddling criminals. Okay, I don't want to get
into that. But when we talk about the maximum extent
of the law, someone is charged with looting, how long
(03:31):
do they go to prison for? What's the maximum?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So looting would probably it will get you about one
hundred and eighty days of county jail. Grand theft, burglary, robbery,
people who are going to engage sadly in internet schemes
either all felonies these can get you in state prison
for years and again also create huge financial liabilities for
you to pay all the money back. That's a combination
(03:57):
of penalties that we can bring in anyone of these situations.
And to the extent that people do get arrested, we're
going to speak with law enforcements help to make sure
that they don't get arrested in the morning and get
cited and released immediately, that they'll go before a magistrate.
I have appropriate bail put in in each case.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, and I'm more on the tough side when it
comes to looting. I'm almost fanatic about that. I can't
imagine a judge giving anything other than the maximum sentence
upon conviction of looting for the reasons I said at
the beginning, literally the falling apart of society when that happens.
And six months in county jail doesn't seem to be
(04:44):
very long. Most of us would be pretty offended that
it's just not long enough. And even a couple of
three years in the state prison isn't enough, and restitution
you know, these guys don't have any money, so they're
simply not gonna be able to pay back act throughout
their entire lives. But do you see any do you
see any leniency at all when it comes to a
(05:06):
looting conviction.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I agree with you. I think that not only will
the DA's office take it a very tough line, as
will law enforcement, but I think when these cases eventually
get presented to a judge for sentencing, I'd be hard
pressed to think a judge is going to look at
this as something other than a despicable crime that needs
to seek maximum punishment. Because you need to seek that
(05:30):
punishment not only to deter the person who's committed the crime,
but to anybody else thinking about it. And remember, if
you do it more than once, these penalties can be
held consecutive. So if someone gets caught looting more than once,
that can be a consecutive penalty. Where you add together
whether it's time in county jail or time in prison.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Now looting a looting charge, or getting into an area
that a mandatory evacuation area. I think that the victims,
this is another another page to this that the victims,
and these are in many cases wealthy people. Alarms going
off mean nothing because of non internet connection, and the
(06:15):
police they're so busy. Are they even going to show
up when someone is accused of looting? That's the problem
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Well right now it's an all hands on jack approach
by the shaf's Department, by the LAPD and local police agencies.
And by that, I know that what they've done is
they've told detectives put on a uniform, go man the streets. Yeah,
and that's exactly what we're happening. They're they're bringing in
the National Guard starting today. It'll help again deter people
(06:46):
who think that looting is even an option. And I've
got an incredible commitment from people who are literally working
back to back twelve hour shifts over and over this
routing to make sure that they keep us safe. The
DA's office will come into play that when these people
get arrested, it's not an if but a when. Then
(07:09):
they'll then go to the DA's office for prosecution. And
here's my promise, they will be prosecuted maximally to the
full extent of the law. So again, if anyone's out
there doing a cost benefit analysis, I'm going to make
sure that the cost is significant enough they don't do
the crime in the first place.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
All right, how about the arsonist that or the person
has been accused of arson in the Kenneth fire. I
mean that takes to a much higher degree because well,
I mean, you're looking at hundreds of homes, You're looking
at the potential of people dying there. That is that's
kind of crazy. And do you put those at a
(07:50):
whole different level?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Absolutely, if someone wants to or has intentionally set fires
that have ignited these different iris around Los Angeles County,
that is a completely different level and they will be
held to a different level of significant consequences.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
How is that going the I'm assuming you're still under investigation,
and how involved are you with the DA's office in
that investigation?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So those matters are going to be
I want to introduce and thank you LA County District
Attorney Nathan Hawkman. Thank you so much for joining.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Us my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
On sure And do you mind if I call you
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman, just to be.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Informal, absolutely and call me that you can call me.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Okay, got it all right, let's go to Nathan. Why
not you can call me mister Handel. By the way,
that's not a problem. Now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh, let's let's get serious.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
For a moment, because you talked about the crime that's
being committed in terms of looting, and uh, that's a
felony or being in an evacuation area where you should
not be as in you're not a resident. Uh, it's
and I'm trying to put it into words. It used
(00:54):
to be and a married many jurisdictions overseas where looters
are shot on sight because it is such a dangerous
crime relative to anarchy and simply the falling apart of
society as we know it. And you talked about that,
So let's talk about that your position and what you
(01:16):
are going to do upon the arrest of someone who
is accused of looting.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So yeah, this tragedy is immense. I am part of
the over one hundred and eighty thousand people who have
been evacuated in Pacific Palisades, where my sister used to
have a home with her husband and four boys at
home doesn't exist anymore. I had a chance to walk
and drive it through the fire ravaged areas and it
(01:42):
is nothing short of apocalyptic. So with this tragedy, sadly,
certain people in society view is an opportunity. And I'm
talking directly to the criminals out there. I want them
to have an unmistakably clear message that if they want
to loose, if they want to steal, if they want
want to commit burglary, robbery, or any similar offense, they
(02:03):
will be arrested, they will be prosecuted, and they will
be punished to the maximum extent of the laws. I
send this out as a warning so that nobody can
have any confusion later on as to what the what
the consequences will be for their actions. And I'm hoping
that people heed that warning and don't commit these crimes.
But sadly, there will be people who will commit them,
(02:26):
and when they do, they will be punished and When we.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Talk about prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law,
what does that mean in terms of consequences.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
So it's felonies, right, there's grand fact, there's burglary. Looting
has both a felony and a misdemeanor component to it.
There's state prison, there's county jail, there's community service, there's restitution.
You still you're going to pay it back. There's damage
that you can be that you could have caused others
(02:56):
you'll have to pay back. And this is a situation
where we will seek maximum penalties against people who decide
to take advantage of this incredible tragedy. Their actions are
despicable and nothing less.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Right, and usually there's a reputation. And I know you're
turning this around, and one of the reasons you got
elected is we came from a policy of and I'll
say this, coddling criminals. Okay, I don't want to get
into that. But when we talk about the maximum extent
of the law, someone is charged with looting, how long
(03:31):
do they go to prison for? What's the maximum?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So looting would probably it will get you about one
hundred and eighty days of county jail. Grand theft, burglary, robbery,
people who are going to engage sadly in internet schemes
either all felonies these can get you in state prison
for years and again also create huge financial liabilities for
you to pay all the money back. That's a combination
(03:57):
of penalties that we can bring in anyone of these situations.
And to the extent that people do get arrested, we're
going to speak with law enforcements help to make sure
that they don't get arrested in the morning and get
cited and released immediately, that they'll go before a magistrate.
I have appropriate bail put in in each case.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, and I'm more on the tough side when it
comes to looting. I'm almost fanatic about that. I can't
imagine a judge giving anything other than the maximum sentence
upon conviction of looting for the reasons I said at
the beginning, literally the falling apart of society when that happens.
And six months in county jail doesn't seem to be
(04:44):
very long. Most of us would be pretty offended that
it's just not long enough. And even a couple of
three years in the state prison isn't enough, and restitution
you know, these guys don't have any money, so they're
simply not gonna be able to pay back act throughout
their entire lives. But do you see any do you
see any leniency at all when it comes to a
(05:06):
looting conviction.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
I agree with you. I think that not only will
the DA's office take it a very tough line, as
will law enforcement, but I think when these cases eventually
get presented to a judge for sentencing, I'd be hard
pressed to think a judge is going to look at
this as something other than a despicable crime that needs
to seek maximum punishment. Because you need to seek that
(05:30):
punishment not only to deter the person who's committed the crime,
but to anybody else thinking about it. And remember, if
you do it more than once, these penalties can be
held consecutive. So if someone gets caught looting more than once,
that can be a consecutive penalty. Where you add together
whether it's time in county jail or time in prison.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Now looting a looting charge, or getting into an area
that a mandatory evacuation area. I think that the victims,
this is another another page to this that the victims,
and these are in many cases wealthy people. Alarms going
off mean nothing because of non internet connection, and the
(06:15):
police they're so busy. Are they even going to show
up when someone is accused of looting? That's the problem
I see.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Well right now it's an all hands on jack approach
by the shaf's Department, by the LAPD and local police agencies.
And by that, I know that what they've done is
they've told detectives put on a uniform, go man the streets. Yeah,
and that's exactly what we're happening. They're they're bringing in
the National Guard starting today. It'll help again deter people
(06:46):
who think that looting is even an option. And I've
got an incredible commitment from people who are literally working
back to back twelve hour shifts over and over this
routing to make sure that they keep us safe. The
DA's office will come into play that when these people
get arrested, it's not an if but a when. Then
(07:09):
they'll then go to the DA's office for prosecution. And
here's my promise, they will be prosecuted maximally to the
full extent of the law. So again, if anyone's out
there doing a cost benefit analysis, I'm going to make
sure that the cost is significant enough they don't do
the crime in the first place.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
All right, how about the arsonist that or the person
has been accused of arson in the Kenneth fire. I
mean that takes to a much higher degree because well,
I mean, you're looking at hundreds of homes, You're looking
at the potential of people dying there. That is that's
kind of crazy. And do you put those at a
(07:50):
whole different level?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Absolutely, if someone wants to or has intentionally set fires
that have ignited these different iris around Los Angeles County,
that is a completely different level and they will be
held to a different level of significant consequences.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
How is that going the I'm assuming you're still under investigation,
and how involved are you with the DA's office in
that investigation?
Speaker 2 (08:20):
So those matters are going to be
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