Bay Area 'soft-on-crime' prosecutor recalled after 18 months in office

Alameda County, Calif. District Attorney Pamela Y. Price was recalled Tuesday after just 18 months in office.

Voting records show the recall committee, Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE), garnered 134,256 votes to remove Price from office. Price only received 72,977 votes to retain her position.

With all precincts reported, Price's recall initiative won decisively, achieving 64.79% of the total votes cast.

SAFE's recall initiative comes as shows Oakland, the Alameda County seat, experienced a surge in reported car thefts last year, increasing by 44% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, burglaries rose by 23%, and robberies spiked by 38% during the same reporting period.

The recall committee's website said the effort to remove Price from office began in 2023. This initiative was launched in partnership with Brenda Grisham, the mother of a homicide victim, and Carl Chan, a community organizer and safety advocate.

The website added that former Alameda County prosecutors, as well as crime victims and their families, came together to fund commercials, campaign ads and mailings aimed at ousting Price.

SAFE is confident the majority of voters in Alameda County no longer accept the soft-on-crime District Attorney Pamela Price," the recall website said.

Many families who said they were impacted by violent crime under Price's leadership stepped forward to support SAFE's recall effort in the closing days of election season.

Florance McCrary, a mother of a 22-year-old murdered in Alameda County in 2016, The National News Desk she joined SAFE after Price dropped charges against her son's alleged killer.

"It was unbelievable to realize that for the fight that took over six years to get to that, it was diminished to nothing," McCrary said. "And while sitting there in court, learning even from the judge, well, this is the best we can do."

McCrary's son was killed by a stray bullet.

Price took office as a progressive Democrat looking to reform law enforcement. Under the campaign slogan "justice done right," Price pitched to voters a 10-point reform plan she promised to enact if elected.

I commit to be a champion and support of gun violence reduction strategies proven to reduce shootings, rather than over-relying on ineffective prosecutions," Price wrote.

Price added that she would stop "over-criminalizing" youth, focus on decreasing incarcerations and build a network of community-based organizations to "rehabilitate" and divert alleged criminal offenders into their home neighborhoods versus the correctional system.

Price's platform and priorities echo the strategies advocated by The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR). The Oakland-based nonprofit has had a peppered history in the city of advocating and serving as "technical assistants" to lower the region's persistent gun violence and youth offender accountability strategies.

The organization previously launched an initiative called Ceasefire as part of its efforts to "reimagine public safety," according to NICJR's website. Ceasefire was ultimately dismantled by Oakland officials, citing its ineffectiveness and soft-on-crime approach.

Meanwhile, NICJR's website says the non-profit began providing training to Oakland's law enforcement agencies once again in December after a several-year hiatus. The organization currently serves as trainers and technical assistants to law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., and the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

Neither NICJR nor Price immediately responded to TNND's questions about how the successful recall will impact their criminal justice strategies.

California law will determine Price's removal from office after the local election results are confirmed. The apparent vacancy will be filled by a nominee vetted by the local board of supervisors. State law will prohibit Price from being reappointed to her vacant seat.

Price wasn't the only progressive California prosecutor who had a bad night on Tuesday.Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón his reelection bid after years of controversy surrounding his policies, which his opponent labeled "lenient."

California voters also chose Tuesday to reverse Proposition 47, a criminal justice measure passed in 2014 that many blame for spikes in shoplifting and burglary.