Democrats who voted for Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said they want the top prosecutor out because his progressive policies have created a “zombie town” where “smash and grab” robberies continue to climb.
Former Gascón supporters told The Post scenes like the mob of at least 50 crooks who plundered $100k worth of goods from a Nordstrom department store at the Topanga Mall on Saturday are becoming more commonplace because crooks don’t fear the consequences.
“I call myself a bleeding heart liberal, anti-gun and voted for Gascón because I thought he was going to be sensible and make reforms like he promised,” said one former supporter who wanted to remain anonymous because she is involved in Democrat party politics.
“Since he took office, it has just been the opposite to a point where we feel like we can’t walk in our own neighborhoods anymore.
“We are f—ing terrified because these start out as low-level crimes, but it has gradually exploded. These criminals are not getting prosecuted and they know it. It’s off the rails.”
Smash and grab incidents like the one at the Topanga Nordstroms Mall, and another on Sunday where several people brazenly walked out of a Nike store in East Los Angeles carrying boxes of shoes, have become so commonplace unarmed security guards often step back and let the criminals go.
According to the latest figures released by LAPD, there have been 8,567 burglary cases logged so far this year compared to 7,579 over the same time in 2021 — a 13% increase.
Personal and other thefts increased by a whopping 42% at 19,724 cases compared to 13,922 incidents during the same period of time in 2021.
Some of the liberals who said claimed they were previously against guns now support the use of armed security guards at their local malls and in their upmarket neighborhoods.
Billionaire businessman Rick Caruso, who ran for LA mayor but lost to Democratic US Rep. Karen Bass, recently voice his concerns about the lawlessness crippling LA.
“The time has come to demand that our elected officials change the laws to hold criminals and start enforcing laws in a fair and equitable manner,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I have heard directly from small business owners who feel defeated by the lack of accountability for criminals.
“Families at their local streets do not feel safe, and their residential neighborhoods and quality of life have been impacted.”
Sources in Gascón’s office told The Post even his own staff feel unsafe, after a female employee was attacked by a homeless man earlier this year as she was walking to her commuter train at the Downtown LA Union Station after work.
Shortly after that incident, the office implemented a transportation program in March where a third party vendor was brought in to provide security to and from the city’s Hall of Justice to the Civic Center area, according to an internal memo obtained by The Post.
“Security incidents involving aggressive confrontations initiated by members of the public have occurred to our employees assigned to the Civic Center area, while walking between their vehicles or transportation area and the office,” the memo said.
On Monday, Gascón’s office said the LA County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Investigations will now use government vehicles to escort employees to and from their cars and the subway station.
Meanwhile, frustrated employees in Gascóns office said the country’s largest prosecutor’s office still has a backlog of about 10,000 cases. Critics say Gascon’s support of Proposition 47— a law approved by California voters in November 2014 that reclassified some felonies into misdemeanors — has continued to contribute to the uptick in crime.
“DA George Gascón has created a situation where he refuses to prosecute these criminals,” said LA Deputy District Attorney John Lewin. “He won’t charge misdemeanors and he won’t do anything about homeless drug addicts. He has, through his sponsorship of Prop 47, essentially legalized theft, and so the area around Civic Center is a zombie town.
“This has resulted in his own employees being victimized by the local, primarily homeless and and drug-addicted criminals who are on the street because George Gascón will not do his job and prosecute them. It is an absolute dereliction of duty. “
However, Gascón’s staff told The Post the office has reviewed over 132,000 cases in 2022 alone, averaging more than 11,000 “filing decisions” made per month.
While Gascón narrowly survived the second recall effort to oust him from office in August, powerful Democrats such as supermarket magnate and President Clinton confidant Ron Burkle and real estate baron Jordan Kaplan threw their support and money against Gascón, according to Los Angeles Magazine.
Another former supporter said Gascón’s refusal to charge gun, gang and other sentencing enhancements against criminals has created a free-for-all. The voter, who wanted to remain anonymous, said prowlers have been more common in her Santa Monica neighborhood where the median home price is $1.6 million.
“People who are committing these crimes, if they do ever get arrested, are let out again so it’s pretty much a revolving door,” the source. “These smash and grabs are one thing, but as someone who was born and raised in Los Angeles, this seems unprecedented.
“Just a year ago someone tried to break into our house. I’m not a fearful person, but I do have two daughters and I question whether I should let them even go around the neighborhood by themselves when people are loitering and transients everywhere. Even the malls are no longer safe.”