San Francisco elected Chesa Boudin as its new District Attorney in November of 2019, and in less than a month of his incumbency, the city has already become more dangerous.
Weeks after he was sworn in in early January, Boudin made national news for dropping charges against a man who savagely attacked a police officer’s face with broken vodka bottles, leaving him with severe head and neck injuries.
Since then, the San Francisco Police Officers Association has set up the website BoudinBlunders.com to raise awareness about Boudin’s dangerous choices. It reports on instances where Boudin refused to prosecute various crimes and accepts user submissions.
The website’s front page features a headline that reads “Chesa Declares Open Season on Police Officers.” Tony Montoya, the head of the association, is quoted saying, “This case represents another instance where Boudin blundered and is not prosecuting an individual that attacked police officers. We have a duty to expose these dangerous decisions.”
The San Francisco Police Officers Association is right. By refusing to charge the man who attacked the police officer with broken bottles, Boudin is telling the public it is totally acceptable to assault men and women in uniforms.
The attack was caught on the officer’s body camera and clearly shows the assailant pursuing the officer from across the street with the glass weapon. Nothing in the video warranted Boudin to drop charges.
California considers broken glass a deadly weapon, and assault with a deadly weapon can be prosecuted as a felony. Instead of putting the assailant behind bars, Boudin kept him free. This act shouldn’t come as a surprise though, as many of Boudin’s policies encourage prosecutors to go easy on criminals.
According to his campaign website, ChesaBoudin.com, Boudin wants to get rid of gang enhancements in prosecutions. “Gang enhancements” is a term for a California penal code that illegalizes participation in street gangs, and makes sure gang-affiliated convicts serve more time for crime.
Instead of keeping gang members off the streets, Boudin’s policy would allow them to continue terrorizing neighborhoods. The reasoning behind Boudin’s absurd policy is that gang enhancements lead to racism in the justice system, though he hasn’t explained how.
Boudin also said he will not contest early release dates on violent felons, which would allow any felon who merited an early release date in prison to go free without a judge’s approval.
There is no question these policies are beyond dangerous. Philadelphia serves as an example.
Chesa Boudin and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner ran on two identical platforms, with goals of reforming the justice system by ending mass incarceration and stopping the prosecution of “harmless” crimes.
Krasner made national news last fall for dropping a first-degree murder charge to a manslaughter charge, even though the suspect admitted to killing a man in a rap song. Krasner offered no public statement for the reasoning behind his choice.
Boudin’s policies are already proving to have the same negative effect. Even progressive mayor London Breed opposed Boudin because she knew his soft policies would increase crime rates and give criminals freedom.
While Boudin is single-handedly making the city more dangerous, something good may come of his incumbency. Hopefully, he will teach San Franciscans that mindlessly voting for the most radical candidate has dangerous consequences.