New San Francisco DA addresses criticism, shares vision
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- San Francisco's new district attorney Brooke Jenkins said the state of the city is a crisis. On Sunday she spoke to KPIX about her priorities for the D.A.'s office and how she plans to balance reform and accountability.
When asked if she will be ridding the office any people who are still loyal to her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, Jenkins said "I have not made any personnel decisions at this time. That's not a question I can answer right now."
"You just have to keep trying to make (the mission) clear and there will be people who don't buy in and that's fine. I had come into this office to unify us. I do not want us to be divided by who was hired by which administration. I want us to work together for the same thing, which is what's best for San Francisco and keeping San Franciscans safe," Jenkins said.
She says her number one priority is to get all the attorneys in her office to work toward the changes she puts in place.
"We will have accountability. We will no longer be a safe haven for criminal activity and that we are no longer indifferent to property crime and drug crime here in San Francisco. So people will know that. We can't be treating drug sales as a victimless crime anymore because there are true victims -- people are dying. And so accountability, as I said, there is no one-size-fits-all. We should always be looking at each individual case and each offender for their particular circumstance. So I don't want to sit here and say jail is right for every case, for every offender. But we need to be looking critically at each case to see what would be a just method of accountability in that situation," Jenkins explained.
She said she will bring back the options of cash bail, gang enhancements and the ability to try minors as adults in extreme cases.
"(The biggest misconception of me is) that I want to return to some tough-on-crime, very, very conservative approach. I want people to truly understand that reform is personal to me, right? Fairness and equity in our system is personal to me. It is a part of why I do this work. I wanted to be a diverse reflection in the courtroom not just on the defense side but on the prosecution side, which historically has not been diverse," Jenkins said.
She said her office will continue the work that her predecessor started in uncovering wrongful convictions. She also emphasized that she will hold the police accountable.
"My family has been impacted by police violence and misconduct. I am Black and Latina. It affects my communities the most and so it is not something that, again, is theoretical for me. It's a part of my lived experience and so it is something that I take very seriously and I believe that we can both have a working relationship with the police department and also explain to them and make it clear when there is misconduct. There will be accountability on that side, too."
She is tempering expectations and asking for patience since she has to run in the November special election. She said she will do her best in the next several months to move her agenda along and provide results to the people of San Francisco.
"It's going to take more than just me. It's going to take partnership with other government agencies, with non-profit organizations, with rehabilitative services, housing services so that we can address fully what the needs are of those who are struggling."
When asked about her reaction to Chesa Boudin leaving the door open to running against her this November, Jenkins smiled and said, "it'll be up to the voters."