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<\/p>\nRoseville, CA… What good are tax dollars if our elected leaders don\u2019t use them to provide citizens with basic and necessary government services? California is about to learn the hard way that all the money in the world means nothing if its leaders abandon reason and responsibility.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the latest example of a state gone haywire, Los Angeles County\u2019s recently-elected District Attorney, George Gascon, laid out a stunning pro-crime agenda that would be viewed as satire in most parts of the country.<\/p>\n
Gascon is committed to a Progressive \u201cdeincarceration\u201d agenda, and is directing his prosecutors not to enforce a host of behaviors that can only be considered crimes, regardless of the District Attorney\u2019s ridiculous announcement. In Los Angeles County, here is only a partial list of what will no longer be prosecuted: trespassing; drinking in public; under the influence of a controlled substance; public intoxication; disturbing the peace; criminal threats; driving without a license; and, remarkably, resisting arrest. The County is essentially sanctioning attacks on police. How is that for \u201cbacking the blue?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gascon is saying to Angelenos that if someone comes onto your lawn, drunk, high on drugs, yelling criminal threats at you, and refuses to leave your property, that\u2019s okay. It is a preposterous policy that undermines the civic life of Los Angeles and puts citizens at risk.<\/p>\n
Remember that Los Angeles County is home to more than ten-million people. This is not a quirky little local policy \u2013 it affects a quarter of the state. San Francisco\u2019s District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, actually beat Gascon to the punch in adopting the pro-crime, non-enforcement and prosecution model for his county, meaning that two of the Golden State\u2019s major population centers are close to criminal free-for-alls.<\/p>\n
This cannot become the model for District Attorneys around the state.<\/p>\n
I am a taxpayer advocate who represents ten million Californians as a Member of the State Board of Equalization, where we oversee more than six trillion dollars of property that generates more than $60 billion in local tax revenue. That money is the bedrock of local government funding. Citizens paying that money rightfully have the expectation that government will act to keep them and their property safe. This is government 101. Law enforcement is hardly a rare or extravagant public service \u2013 it is fundamental and essential. It must be government\u2019s highest priority.<\/p>\n
Time after time governments and pro-tax groups claim that all our problems would be solved if only we had more tax dollars flowing into our coffers. I can\u2019t think of a more powerful example of how false those claims are than the government-induced crime wave that will soon visit the unfortunate people who will be victimized by criminals with no fear of punishment.<\/p>\n
Gascon is not being forced into these policies. This is not some dilemma foisted on him by a financial emergency. He is not claiming he is underfunded or understaffed. This is a choice, and it is the worst choice.<\/p>\n
The way to lower incarceration is through less crime, not less enforcement and prosecution. Letting drunken, hostile people occupy private property is not a solution, it\u2019s an insult to law-abiding citizens. It\u2019s dangerous. It\u2019s a slap in the face to taxpayers and to law enforcement officers who will still get calls to intervene in the many troubling situations now ignored by Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n
A civil society only remains civil when actions have consequences. Law enforcement is the supporting framework for the peaceful society we all deserve. California can\u2019t tear it down by giving criminals a free hand to abuse innocent victims.<\/p>\n
Support our police and sheriffs as they do the dangerous and necessary work to keep us free from harm. Stand up to District Attorneys whose zeal to achieve their own political goals floods the streets with criminals facing no consequences. A bright California future depends on it.<\/p>\n
Senator Ted Gaines (Ret.) was elected to represent the Board of Equalization\u2019s First District. He is a leading taxpayer advocate and is committed to providing trustworthy and transparent representation for nearly ten million constituents in 30 counties of northern, eastern, and southern California. For more information, visit\u00a0www.boe.ca.gov\/Gaines<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Roseville, CA… What good are tax dollars if our elected leaders don\u2019t use them to provide citizens with basic and necessary government services? California is about to learn the hard way that all the money in the world means nothing if its leaders abandon reason and responsibility. In the latest example of a state gone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1599,"featured_media":111969,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,16,1,143],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-law-enforcement","category-news","category-opinion","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Senate-Gaines-Headshot-e1608246742338.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}