DIVERSION
Alameda has more diversion courts than most counties in the state, yet a 2021 report from Urban Peace Movement and the ACLU found that only 5.4% of low-level misdemeanor cases were sent to diversion courts in 2017 and 2018. As DA, how will your office make use of the county’s diversion courts and what challenges, if any, do you anticipate?
Price says the current menu of options, as noted, is underutilized and unsupported, and that the criteria to access and benefit from our diversion courts is too restrictive. “The current DA’s office gives excuses for limiting access to these programs, while acting as gatekeepers to justice,” she says. “When elected, we will conduct an immediate assessment of the current criteria and resources available for each alternative court and set quantifiable goals to increase the effective use of these courts while also working to establish a network of neighborhood court systems.”
Wiley says the 5.4% statistic does not account for the many variables that make it difficult to grant diversion programs. “In many cases, the offenders have multiple (felony and misdemeanor) cases pending in Alameda County and surrounding jurisdictions,” he says. “It also does not include the numerous cases where the public defender recommended against taking the diversion program because misdemeanors now have only a one-year probation period (and) the diversion programs are typically 18 months.” Wiley says he still wants to increase referrals to drug treatment and mental health care programs.
POLICE MISCONDUCT
What do you see as the greatest challenge DAs face when investigating and charging police misconduct? How do you plan to overcome that?
Price says the biggest challenge has two components: demonstrating independent analysis and judgment in investigations, and holding police agencies accountable to a standard of integrity. “A good working relationship with local law enforcement is where a DA uses her authority in a balanced, fair and measured way to make sure justice is served,” she says. “Given that police officers are entrusted with serving and protecting unlike any other citizen, they also deserve to be held to a higher standard — not a lower standard.” Price wants police-related lethal force investigations to be overseen by independent, trusted bodies.
Wiley says, in his 32 years of experience, he has seen few exceptions where decisions involving officer-involved shootings haven’t been difficult. He promises to bring “firm principles” to his work on this issue. “You must have clear policies that everyone understands where the line is and should not be crossed,” he says. “You must make principled decisions if the lines are crossed. You cannot allow your decisions to become political footballs where you move in whatever direction the wind is blowing.”
SANTA RITA JAIL
Santa Rita Jail is the largest provider of mental health services in Alameda County. It’s also one of the most dangerous jails in the country. What are your thoughts on that? How would you treat mentally ill people who are accused of committing crimes?
Price points to a 2021 U.S. Department of Justice report that found mental health care at the Santa Rita Jail violated the constitutional rights of mentally ill prisoners. “The role of the DA should not be to incarcerate people with serious mental illness because of their illness,” she says. “We need to expand the criteria for our behavioral health court and create a working group to rethink how mental health services are delivered in Alameda County.” Price vows to champion community-based mental health services to reduce crime without increasing incarceration.
Wiley believes law enforcement is ill-equipped to provide mental health services, and that this has resulted in unfortunate deaths at Santa Rita Jail. “We must rethink how we deal with individuals suffering from mental health challenges,” he says. Wiley points to his involvement with Alameda County’s Reimagine Adult Justice, which strives to reduce the county’s reliance on incarceration. He says the initiative includes exploring “the potential establishment of civilian oversight of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.”
ANTI-ASIAN HATE
What role do you think the DA’s office should play in combating crimes against Asian Americans?
Price says the DA’s job is to protect public safety “for all communities.” The DA, she adds, “cannot justify prioritizing one community based on its racial or ethnic identity while ignoring the needs of other racial, ethnic or religious minorities.” Price says her office will reflect the diversity of Alameda County, and prosecutors will be trained to deliver victim services in culturally responsive ways. “We must insist that Alameda County be a hate-free zone for all of us,” she says, “and amplify the message that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all.’”
Wiley points to a town hall he recently held in Oakland’s Little Saigon, where he heard stories of attacks against members of the community and the subsequent psychological damage these have inflicted in the form of depression, PTSD and a general fear of leaving the house. “The district attorney’s office will provide expanded trauma-informed victim services, including providing language interpreters to improve reporting of crimes,” Wiley says, adding that he also intends to expand the DA’s Special Prosecutions Team focused on anti-Asian hate crimes. “We will not tolerate Asians being victimized simply because they are Asian,” he says.
