No on the Boudin recall

Just say no on the recall

Below is from a transcript of a podcast interview with District Attorney Boudin in the SF Chronicle published today in its hard copy edition. This link, however, doesn't include lot of the interview transcribled in today's Chronicle.

...Do you think police are undermining you?

Bouidin:

Certainly the police union is and has been. It's not a surprise. The police union from day one has been making efforts to undermine me.

What about officers on the streets?

Boudin:

No, but we need to recognize that they have a difficult job, and it's only gotten harder during the pandemic. You may have video evidence of a crime, but its very difficult for police to identify a particular suspect when everyone is wearing masks. 

The chief of police and the mayor called for defunding the police after the murder of George Floyd. And that obviously has an impact on morale, not withstanding that the Police Department has the biggest budget it's ever had, but it's been difficult for them. Many officers refused to get vaccines and now they're short-staffed as a result.

One thing Chief Scott and I agree on is we have to prioritize serious and violent crimes. And police in San Francisco do a far better job than police in other cities across the country in solving homicides. I'm really proud that, as I promised voters I would do, that we are trying more homicide cases than ever before. 

We went from prioritizing the least serious cases to priortizing the most serious cases. That's exactly what I promised voters I would do. Anybody who pretends that we are not being tough on homicide should come watch any one of our trials right now....

I knew it wasn't going to be an easy job. I wish that the two recalls I've faced in a global pandemic that shut down the courts hadn't happened. I wish we had more time and energy to really focus on the work that San Francisco needs to get done around public safety. 

I can't wait to get back to that work as soon as this recall is behind us.

See also What national media will get wrong if Chesa Boudin is recalled and People are attacking Chesa Boudin for diversion programs. I actually went through one.