Alameda County’s 14 police unions united on October 5th in a public statement supporting the movement to recall District Attorney Pamela Price. This comes three months after the Alameda County Prosecutors Association overwhelmingly voted in favor of her removal. As calls for Price’s resignation grow louder, law enforcement representatives from cities including Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, San Leandro, and Emeryville, as well as the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association of Alameda County, held a press conference to voice their concerns.
Brenda Grisham, one of the initiators of the recall movement, along with Oakland Chinatown leader Carl Chan and crime victims, also attended the event, highlighting the increasing urgency of their message.
The joint statement from all the police unions expressed firsthand observations of Price’s policies, stating they “fail to ensure the safety of residents and hold offenders accountable.”
The statement emphasized, “Unfortunately, as law enforcement officials of Alameda County, we witness a judicial system under the guise of reform that repeatedly cycles through the same perpetrators committing the same offenses, getting repeatedly arrested and released, leaving more citizens as victims. We cannot use ‘reform’ as an excuse to allow criminals to continue harming our community without consequences.”
Iain Fry, president of the San Leandro Police Union, remarked, “As the chief law enforcement officer of Alameda County, District Attorney Price has an obligation to defend the rights of crime victims, seek justice for them, and make it clear to those who continue to harm citizens that they must be held accountable for their actions.”
Pamela Price was elected as Alameda County’s District Attorney in 2022 with 53% of the vote, promising to reform the criminal justice system and implementing several policies, including banning special circumstance charges and enhancing penalties. Critics argue that she has failed to hold offenders accountable and that her policies are overly lenient, whereas supporters contend that her approach is essential for reforming a broken system.
Federal Congressman Eric Swalwell, representing the East Bay’s 15th district, also expressed his support for the recall last week, criticizing Price for being “soft on crime.”
