Name: SF DA Boudin, colleagues call for State Bar to ban police union money in prosecutor races
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SF DA Boudin, colleagues call for State Bar to ban police union money in prosecutor races

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA coalition of current and former California district attorneys on Monday called on the State Bar to prohibit elected prosecutors from accepting political contributions from police unions due to conflicts of interest in aligning with groups that often advocate for officers accused of excessive force.The request, which has the support of officials that include San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, comes a week after the Minneapolis and amid .In a letter to California State Bar officials, prosecutors said the well-heeled police unions are known to pour resources into district attorney candidates who share their vision of criminal justice. This creates troubling optics when an officer is under fire for an on-duty incident, and it’s the prosecutor’s job to decide whether to charge the officer with a crime.“Receiving an endorsement and campaign contributions from an entity that finances opposing counsel creates, at a minimum, the appearance of a conflict of interest for elected prosecutors,” the letter states.More for youOn a call with reporters Monday morning, Becton, Boudin and his predecessor, George Gascón, who is now running for district attorney in Los Angeles, called on other state and national leaders to endorse similar reforms.“I think it’s apparent to all of us today that America has a crisis of trust in law enforcement,” Boudin said.“The rule changes that we’re requesting today will not only help to avoid conflicts ... but the rule change will also enhance trust in our criminal justice system at a time when that trust is sorely needed.”Boudin said the conflict of interest “has been allowed to go on for far too long,” adding that it should be the first of many steps to take money out of politics and create greater police accountability.Several major Bay Area police unions, as well as police chiefs and elected city officials, have condemned the officers involved in Floyd’s death. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, 44, was captured on video kneeing Floyd’s neck into the pavement for more than eight minutes while three other officers looked on.Chauvin and the three other officers were fired, and Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya, a vocal critic of both Gascón and Boudin, immediately fired back at the proposal Monday, calling the prosecutors “political opportunists.”“It’s no accident that two of California’s most ardent criminal apologists want to ban unions and the rank and file police officers we represent from informing our communities about candidates who have a direct impact on their safety,” Montoya said in a statement.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.“If any attorney running for office does not have the moral and ethical principles to separate politics from their sworn duty, they should turn in their Bar card and not seek public office,” he added.In a last week, the San Francisco police union, San Jose Police Officers’ Association and the Oakland Police Officers’ Association said they were concerned the actions of the four officers in Minneapolis will “tarnish” the image of law enforcement.“What we saw on that video was inconsistent and contrary to everything we have been taught, not just as an academy recruit or a police officer, but as human beings,” reads. “Reverence for life in every incident a police officer encounters must be the floor and not the ceiling.”In the call Monday, Gascón acknowledged that he accepted police union financial support during his 2011 campaign for San Francisco district attorney, but didn’t accept police union money in 2014. He said he has not collected money from police unions in his current campaign in Los Angeles.“I will never do so again,” Gascón said.Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA coalition of current and former California district attorneys on Monday called on the State Bar to prohibit elected prosecutors from accepting political contributions from police unions due to conflicts of interest in aligning with groups that often advocate for officers accused of excessive force.The request, which has the support of officials that include San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton, comes a week after the Minneapolis and amid .In a letter to California...

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SF DA Boudin, colleagues call for State Bar to ban police union money in prosecutor races

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