Justice is not served by one-size-fits-all policies implemented by our current DA. On my first day in office, I will rescind all of Gascon’s pro-criminal, blanket policies that have “de-carceration” as their primary goal. These policies represent one end of the pendulum swing designed to release violent and serious criminals before they serve their full sentences and not prosecute such criminals in the first place to the full extent of the law. I reject blanket policies on both ends of the pendulum swing, those of “mass incarceration” and “Gascon’s de-incarceration” and instead advocate the “hard middle.” The “hard middle” is hard because it requires work, experience, and years of judgment to analyze each case individually, focusing on the defendant, the crime(s) committed, and the impact on the victim(s). This approach will determine who the true threats are to our public safety and must be behind bars and the ones that aren’t, such as a first-time, non-violent offender, for whom community service or a diversion program may be the best path to have them pay back their debt to society. The “hard middle” strikes the proper balance of accountability since it enables prosecutors to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, driven first and foremost by increasing public safety, pursuing justice for victims, and providing fairness and accountability to offenders. Unlike Gascon whose blanket policies demonstrate distrust in his prosecutors, leading to over 97% of them to support his recall, I believe the greatest asset of the DA’s Office is the collective thousands of years of experience and judgment the approximately 900+ prosecutors bring to their work. I will empower them, learn from them, and make decisions based on that collective wisdom to promote public safety, allowing the evidence and the law to dictate the result, not a political ideology.