George Gascón
American lawyer and police officer (born 1954) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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George Gascón (born March 12, 1954) is an American attorney and former police officer who is the district attorney of Los Angeles County. A member of the Democratic Party and a former Republican,[1] Gascón served as the district attorney of San Francisco from 2011 to 2019. Prior to his work as a prosecutor, he was an assistant chief of police for the LAPD, and Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona and San Francisco.
This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. (February 2022) |
George Gascón | |
---|---|
43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles County | |
Assumed office December 7, 2020 | |
Preceded by | Jackie Lacey |
28th District Attorney of San Francisco | |
In office January 9, 2011 – October 19, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Kamala Harris |
Succeeded by | Suzy Loftus (interim) Chesa Boudin |
Chief of the San Francisco Police Department | |
In office January 8, 2010 – January 9, 2011 | |
Preceded by | Heather Fong |
Succeeded by | Greg Suhr |
Chief of the Mesa Police Department | |
In office 2006–2009 | |
Preceded by | Dennis Donna |
Succeeded by | Frank Milstead |
Personal details | |
Born | (1954-03-12) March 12, 1954 (age 70) Havana, Cuba |
Political party | Democratic |
Other political affiliations | Republican (formerly) |
Spouse | Fabiola Kramsky |
Education | California State University, Long Beach (BA) Western State College of Law (JD) |
Gascón was born in Havana, Cuba. In 1967, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Bell, California. He joined the United States Army at the age of eighteen and became a sergeant.[2] After earning a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State–Long Beach, Gascón joined the Los Angeles Police Department as a patrol officer.
During his tenure with the Los Angeles Police Department, he attained the rank of assistant chief of police under Chief William Bratton. In 2006, Gascón was appointed chief of police for the Mesa Police Department. He had frequent clashes with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over immigration sweeps targeting Latinos.[3] In 2009, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Gascón as the chief of police for the San Francisco Police Department. In 2011, after Kamala Harris was elected California Attorney General, Newsom appointed him to be the San Francisco district attorney. He was subsequently elected in his own right in November 2011, and again in 2015.[4] In 2020, Gascón unseated incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey with a reformist agenda.[5] Gascón's liberal and progressive policies received backlash during his time in San Francisco and Los Angeles, leading to several recall attempts in the latter role.[5][6]