BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills City Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday, January 4 in support of a recall of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon. The item was brought forward for consideration by Mayor Bob Wunderlich and Vice Mayor Lili Bosse.
According to a press release from the city of Beverly Hills, in the past year Los Angeles County has seen an increase in widespread crime including follow-home robberies, smash-and-grab incidents and the death of Beverly Hills philanthropist Jacqueline Avant in December 2021. Gascón issued numerous Special Directives that are of concerns for the city of Beverly Hills including:
- Special Directive 20-06: Pretrial Release Policy, which eliminated cash bail for any misdemeanor, non-serious felony, or non-violent felony offense.
- Special Directive 20-07: Misdemeanor Case Management, which lists numerous misdemeanor charges that will be declined or dismissed before arraignment and without conditions unless “exceptions” or “factors for consideration” exist.
- Special Directive 20-08: Sentencing Enhancements/Allegations, which provides that the following sentence enhancements or sentencing allegations shall not be filed in any cases and shall be withdrawn in pending matters: Any prior-strike enhancements, including the Three Strikes Law; STEP Act enhancements (also known as “gang enhancements”); violations of bail; and firearm allegations.
“Tonight’s action follows a vote of no confidence in Mr. Gascón by the majority of the Beverly Hills City Council in March of 2021 (Resolution No. 21-R-13337),” states the press release.
The Recall George Gascon website is currently under construction. In 2021, the first attempt to recall Gascon fell short of the 580,000 signatures required to prompt a recall.
Gascon was sworn in as the 43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles on December 7, 2020, replacing Jackie Lacey. He served a patrol officer for the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. He worked his way up from patrol officer to Assistant Chief of Police under Bill Bratton. He served as the District Attorney for the city of San Francisco for two terms.
“California DOES NOT NEED another political recall attempt sponsored by Donald Trump backers and frequent Fox News guests,” Gascon wrote in a rebuttal statement filed with the Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office. “This is not about keeping Angelenos safe, it’s about a political power grab by well-funded political operatives who have fought reforms — on juvenile detention, mental health treatment, police accountability in fatal police shootings, and the death penalty — for decades.”
