Newsom revokes help to Alameda County DA
'Unacceptable lawlessness': Gov. Gavin Newsom to send more CHP officers to Oakland
Using a tow lot in Oakland as his backdrop and with the city's police chief and other law enforcement officers by his side, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced he’s again expanding the deployment of California Highway Patrol officers in the city, which has continued to face rampant incidents of car thefts, sideshows, and other crimes.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom is revoking his offer to dispatch attorneys to help prosecute crimes in Alameda County.
In a letter to Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, the governor said her office has not taken steps to finalize this plan after months of communication.
His office said he hopes to help the county prosecute violent and drug-related crime.
But now, his office said the DA has essentially refused the offer.
"Despite our outreach, your office has yet to make use of these resources," Newsom’s Cabinet Secretary Ann Patterson wrote in a letter to Price’s office, first reported by POLITICO.
KTVU later obtained a copy of the letter.
The governor's office said the resources will now be shifted to Attorney General Rob Bonta's Office.
"Unfortunately our offer to provide the California Cal Guard … was not enthusiastically embraced," Newsom said at a Thursday news conference. "So we have to move forward with a new approach with our attorney general and our department of justice."
Price's communications director was copied on the letter.
At a news conference, Price said that she told the CHP commissioner earlier this year, and he asked her personally, "Are you interested in doing this, and I said yes," Price recalled.
She said she never actually got a proposal from the Attorney General, but the memorandum of understanding with the proper stakeholders was being reviewed.
The discrepancies between Newsom's office and Price could not be immediately straightened out on Thursday.
The main topic of Newsom's news conference, however, was how he was adding a bigger presence of California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland to combat what he described as "unacceptable" lawlessness.
KTVU reached out to Newsom's office for specifics on how many more officers will be in the city as part of the expansion but did not receive details.
Earlier this year, the governor increased state law enforcement in Oakland to try to prevent carjackings, retail theft and other violent crime.
That increase led to hundreds of arrests and the recovery of hundreds of stolen cars, his office said.