SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the Prosecutors Alliance of California released the following statement following the San Francisco Department of Elections’ announcement that signature gatherers have qualified a recall election of the San Francisco District Attorney.

“In a community where data and science matter, a recall fueled by misinformation and unprecedented fearmongering has qualified for the ballot,” said Cristine DeBerry, Founder and Executive Director of the Prosecutors Alliance of California. “As they did throughout the pandemic, San Franciscans will once again turn to the facts and data–rather than politics and disinformation–to determine the veracity of this recall. When they do, they will see that crime is down, but to qualify this recall organizers misled the public and twisted themselves into a pretzel claiming that crime is up. Voters have seen these tactics in our recent past and forcefully condemned them in voting against the recall of our Governor.”

“The reality facing San Franciscans is that the police department is the least productive police agency in the entire state of California. They have solved just 7% of all crimes in San Francisco this year, down from 9% in 2020. It is impossible for a prosecutor to act when there are no suspects arrested. Since the certainty of being caught is a vastly more powerful deterrent than the punishment, the SFPOA blaming DA Boudin for their failures should be examined closely. If we want to address crime, we have to be honest about the role played by every agency in the system.

“Over the course of the next several months the Prosecutors Alliance of California looks forward to engaging on the issues and serving as a resource as the public looks critically at the merits of this recall. There is justification for the public’s frustration, but it is misplaced in a recall attempt fueled by suspect financial interests and objectively false information.”