Voters in Alameda County, California launched an effort to recall District Attorney Pamela Price (D) following a significant increase in crime in the Bay Area locale. Should the effort be successful, it would be the second time in two years that residents near California voted out district attorneys accused by conservatives of not properly prosecuting criminal offenses.
Save Alameda County For Everyone (SAFE) stated that it would file the recall petition, stating that the organization was “resolved to remove Price from office, because our safety and that of our families is at stake.”
The organization also stated that it was undertaking the effort even knowing that “recalling a public official is a long and arduous process necessitating a large and sustained grassroots effort.”
Price has received significant criticism for her conduct while in office. She was accused by residents of being disrespectful to Alameda County’s Asian-American population.
A longtime prosecutor in the district attorney’s office resigned in May, citing what she called Price and other leaders’ “mistreatment” of the Asian community. Rebecca Warren wrote in her resignation letter that Price mishandled the case surrounding the murder of a two-year-old Asian-American child.
Is Pamela Price already the worst district attorney in the country? https://t.co/3RHFAIL4VS
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) August 16, 2023
Alameda County contains several of the Bay Area’s most crime-affected areas, including the city of Oakland.
Oakland has seen a significant increase in crime since 2019. The city’s murder rate nearly doubled between 2020 and 2021, while it has also seen a significant increase in auto burglary, robbery and motor vehicle theft.
Price told members of her staff not to lengthen jail terms for criminals in order to “bring balance back to sentencing and reduce recidivism.”
Should Price be recalled, she would be the second Bay Area prosecutor to face the same fate. Last June, San Francisco voters recalled then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin (D).
The prosecutor was removed from office after a sharp increase in crime in San Francisco. A large majority of 61% of voters in the heavily-Democratic city voted to recall Boudin.
Activists accused Boudin of not properly prosecuting a number of issues in the city, including drug dealing, robbery and offenses related to homelessness.
