For the first time since 2011, more than one candidate is running for the Santa Clara County District Attorney position.
Candidates include: Jeff Rosen, who’s been the county’s DA for more than a decade; Sajid Khan, the county’s deputy public defender; and Daniel Chung, former deputy DA in Rosen’s office.
A DA is a public official who’s appointed or elected to represent the state in criminal judicial proceedings in a specific judicial county or district, according to the Cornell Law School website.
The Santa Clara County DA is the top prosecutor, managing a department of 620 employees and 190 prosecutors, according to an April 18 San Jose Spotlight article.
The DA prosecutes criminal and civil offenses including homicides, frauds, domestic violences and drug trafficking.
The primary election will be held on June 7. The Spartan Daily had Zoom calls with the three candidates, respectively.
Jeff Rosen
“I'm running for reelection as district attorney to reduce crime, reduce incarceration and increase trust between law enforcement and the communities that we serve,” Rosen said.
He said he wants to reduce crime by “vigorously” prosecuting repeat offenders, reinforcing preventive programs and settling “good” rehabilitation services.
Rosen said he would also lower incarceration numbers because it’s expensive for the community and not adapted for non-violent offenders. He said he believes in alternatives from prison for low-level and first-time felons.
“Before I took office [in 2011], there were 5,200 or 5,300 people in our jail,” Rosen said. “Today, there are around 2,300-2,400, so more than a 50% decrease and we've been able to do that safely.”
He said the money spent on incarceration could be used on crime-victim services and police officer hiring instead, which is the “most cost effective way of reducing crime.”
Rosen said the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) isn’t as efficient as it could be because it doesn’t have many officers.
“We have fewer police officers per capita in San Jose than any large city in the United States,” he said. “Trying to tear down the police department, that doesn't make the department better, that makes the department worse.”
Rosen said he views his role as DA as a “bridge” between police and the community.
He said that police officers “do a great job for our community”, and when a police officer isn’t charged after an officer-involved shooting, the DA’s office releases detailed public records including photos, audio recordings and camera footage that detail what happened and why the shooting was justified.
Rosen said he wouldn’t file more charges that are only based on “resisting arrest” because it has been one of the most racially disproportionate prosecutions in the criminal justice system.
“About 18% of all of the resisting arrest prosecutions in our county were of African Americans, who only make up about 2-3% of our county's population,” he said.
He said his office has held law enforcement members accountable, akin to any other citizens as he’s prosecuted more than 60 officers.
Rosen said in his time as DA, he established community prosecutors to help neighborhoods with higher crime rates and build trust with communities experiencing high crime rates.
“The way that we serve and protect the community is based on the community trusting that the police and prosecutors will be fair, professional, honest, empathetic and hardworking,” he said.
Daniel Chung
“I think it's time for change after [the] 12 years of DA Rosen has been there, 12 years and he never had a challenger since getting elected,” Chung said. “My priorities are fighting for public safety, victims rights and systemic changes.”
Chung said as DA, he would enforce laws and pursue balanced reforms, adding that a DA’s main responsibility is to preserve public safety and pursue justice.
He said based on the SJPD crime statistics website, violent crimes and property crimes are increasing because he believes the current DA Rosen has too “soft” of an approach to criminal prosecution.
“My platform is about really restoring justice and making sure that we also uplift people in our community here in Santa Clara County,” Chung said.
He said he would also reform the DA’s office to have clear training and standards for prosecutors regarding how to charge and evaluate cases.
Chung said he would also implement a vertical system of prosecution, with one prosecutor in charge of a case through the beginning to the end of the process. He said he thinks it would resolve cases faster and build victims’ trust.
“If it was a vertical system where [there’s] one prosecutor that you develop trust with and you develop a relationship with, then you could really rely on that prosecutor and get regular updates,” he said.
Chung said he believes defunding the police is a “terrible” idea because police officers need to be well funded, well staffed and well trained in every city.
“Police departments across the county that are understaffed, under-resourced,” he said. “They can't respond to even emergencies in quick time anymore.”
Chung said police officers need to be more engaged with neighborhoods to develop community trust.
He said he supports incarceration alternatives for first-time and non-violent offenders but believes Santa Clara County is too flexible with repetitive offenders and gives “way more than second chances.”
“We're gonna prosecute everybody fairly and with integrity,” Chung said. “When the community sees that . . . people are being held accountable, including higher officials in our community, that's when they're going to begin to trust us again, especially minority communities like Black communities and Hispanic communities.”
Sajid Khan
“I'm running for district attorney to heal systemic racism, fight mass incarceration, address root causes of harm in our community and [build] a justice system that ensures and protects the safety and dignity of all people here in Santa Clara County,” Sajid Khan said.
Khan said if elected as DA, he would end the “school to prison pipeline” by ending the prosecution of children as adults.
He said he was involved in SB 1391, which ended the practice of prosecuting 14 and 15 years olds as adults, and he would end prosecution of 16 and 17 year olds as adults if elected as DA.
Khan said he would also invest in mental health treatment, substance abuse services, trauma-informed care and other alternatives to incarceration that would make the community safer.
“When crime does occur in our community, we have to respond with individualized evidence based sentences and responses . . . that actually address the root causes of harm,” he said.
Khan said he would no longer enforce the three strikes sentencing law and gang enhancements that result in disproportionate, excessive sentences.
California’s three strikes sentencing law is increasing penalties and punishment for a defendant convicted of a prior serious felony, according to California courts website. If an offender commits a serious or violent felony after two prior strikes, the offender can be sentenced to a 25-year-to-life sentence.
“What [the three strikes law] ends up doing is attaching a purely punitive prison response to harm in our community,” Khan said.
He said gang enhancement prosecution is primarily levied upon people of color and are rooted in discriminatory police tactics.
“When gang violence does occur in our community, it's really important . . . that we respond not just with a punitive response but with a response that addresses why this gang behavior is happening,” Khan said.
He said he supports police-allocated-budget reform and increasing investment in community programs.
“We need to stop asking police officers to respond to things like mental health and homelessness and instead reallocate those resources towards other experts and professionals that are better equipped to respond to those calls,” Khan said.
He also said to rebuild trust between police officers and the community, especially with Black and Latinx communities, people need to see that prosecutors are holding police officers accountable.
“We have a problem of police officers killing our fellow human beings in San Jose,” Khan said. “The way we stop that is through real police accountability from our DA office.”
