State to 'speed up prosecutions' after Alameda County DA delay

State officials say CalGuard prosecutors will take on some Alameda County cases following a sluggish response by DA Pamela Price to an offer of state help.

The new agreement was reached "quickly," the governor's office said, in contrast to the "nearly five-month attempt to formalize a similar agreement" with DA Price.

Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom loudly and publicly rescinded an offer to assign state prosecutors to help in Alameda County, citing a lack of interest from DA Price.

"We extended a hand, a partnership. Unfortunately, it wasn't reciprocated," Newsom said last month at a press conference in Oakland. "We needed just to pull the plug."

In response, Price held a press conference to say her office had still been working on the deal. She called Newsom "misinformed" about numerous issues and disputed the five-month timeline he described.

"He is entitled to do whatever he feels is appropriate," she told the media. "I'm disappointed that the governor did not reach out to me directly, and I'm disappointed that the governor did not acknowledge the efforts that our office is making."

"I'm sorry that he's disappointed," she added. "And I hope he will call me."

That does not seem to have happened.

CalGuard will take on "violent and organized crime" in Alameda County

On Friday, Newsom's office announced that a memorandum of understanding had been finalized with the state Department of Justice to allow "California National Guard attorneys to prosecute cases originating in Alameda County."

The announcement emphasized that the plan to "speed up prosecutions in Alameda County" had taken "just two weeks to be finalized."

As a result, the governor's office said, the California Department of Justice will allow the California National Guard’s (CalGuard) Counterdrug Task Force to prosecute "violent and organized crime in Alameda County."

In his press conference last month, Newsom said there was no time to waste.

"We need to be more aggressive as it relates to the investigations and accountability of the prosecutions of some of these cases," he said, adding: "We've been disappointed [by] the lack of engagement with the DA's office."

Newsom said the goal of the new initiative would be "targeted prosecution" designed to "lessen the load" for the Alameda County DA's office, particularly in relation to "some of the more complex cases."

On Friday, the governor's office put the new CalGuard agreement in the context of Newsom's recent pledge to quadruple the shifts CHP officers work in Oakland beginning in July.

The "surge" campaign began in February as "a targeted crackdown on criminal activity, including vehicle theft, retail theft, and violent crime."

"In the first six months of the operation," the governor's office said Friday, "CHP officers arrested 562 suspects, recovered 1,142 stolen cars, and seized 55 guns connected to crimes."

DA's office says it's only gotten 11 "CHP surge" cases

On Friday, DA Price responded quickly to Newsom's announcement, telling the media that her office "welcomes CalGuard prosecutors and the Department of Justice in prosecuting criminal cases generated by the Alameda County Narcotics Task Force and the CHP surge operation in Oakland."

Price also said her office hoped for "swift results" and would "assist in that effort in any way possible."

The Alameda County DA's office went on to say, however, that it had received just 11 cases since March that were "identified as 'CHP surge' cases."

"To the extent that there have been a large number of arrests related to CHP surge operations, our records do not reflect those cases being referred to this office for prosecution by either the CHP or the DOJ," the DA's office said Friday.

(The DA's office ignored two inquiries from The Scanner last month seeking data about the surge cases.)

CHP disputes Alameda County DA arrest data

The sparring continued Friday when the California Highway Patrol disputed aspects of Price's claims and shared data of its own.

In a prepared statement, the CHP confirmed that it had made more than 500 arrests since February, 41% of which had been felonies.

"Per long-established protocol, every arrest made by a CHP officer within Alameda County has been referred to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for filing of arrest charges," the CHP said.

As of Friday, the CHP said, just 28% of those cases had been "processed by the Alameda County DA’s office" resulting in a charging decision, such as arraignment, dismissal, diversion, conviction, a plea deal or a decision not to file charges.

The other 72% of its cases had been "accepted by the Alameda County DA’s office, but no charges have been filed," the CHP said.

The data, the CHP added, had been "obtained from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office’s Consolidated Records Information Management System (CRIMS)."

The CHP also noted that every arrest report it submitted to the DA's office had included recommended charges.

"However," the CHP continued, "only the district attorney can decide whether to 'press' or 'drop' criminal charges."

"For further information related to the status of these cases, please contact the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office," the CHP said.