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Comment by atdrummond | Hacker News Reader

I should be clear it was his office (I’ve never talked to the man), not him, where I encountered the most trouble. SFPD at least feigned caring about my situation but repeatedly pleaded their hands were tied, that they could arrest but the men would end up back on the street in days.

The new DA’s office has made a lot of promises but there’s been no substantial progress. Their continued increasing rates of prosecutions on violent crimes gives me a bit more hope that they’re truly battling through an immense backlog - but I’ve simply run out of patience and energy to fight the system in order to compel them to simply do their jobs.

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I think the case against Boudin would be made if the police made the arrests and the DA did in fact refuse to prosecute. Maybe there would have been that case.

What trouble did the DA's office give you?

During Boudin’s admin, I struggled to ever talk to anyone. I was able to confirm they had all the info I had collected and the various reports the police I had done. They did seem oddly interested if I felt there was a possibility I instigated the attack (I was assaulted seconds after walking out the door).

Since Boudin left, they have been much more responsive and have intimated they well get to my case. I just haven’t seen any action yet - but they have been far easier to communicate with.

If the police are not arresting, they were the ones who made the decision not to prosecute… not the DA. They may blame the DA, but really they just didn’t want to do the paperwork.

The DA is the entity who decides to pursue charges against a suspect or not. The police can only arrest and recommend.

The prosecution and the arrest are independent. In particular, the DA can charge someone with a crime and then get the police to arrest them because they’re a flight risk, a danger to the community, or they don’t show up for court dates.

Without an arrest, the DA can't file criminal charges. They need the paperwork that SFPD refuses to file.

Why did you just trust the police? They could be telling the truth but they could also be lying. And in either case they did not even bother to try. If they do not investigate and hand the case to the DA's office how would the DA be able to press charges?

Their accusation against Boudain could be correct but they could just as well be lazy and blame it on what the DA's office may or may not do in the future.

And, notably, the police had a pattern of lying about Boudin because he was trying to crack down on police misconduct. This led to absurd scenes such as the DA forced to rent a U-haul truck and rely on the assistance of federal agencies to transport seized stolen goods, and arrest a suspect after the bust of a major car burglary ring: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SFPD-didnt-stop-Quick...

The police achieved their objective of getting Boudin replaced by a DA who would let them continue to act with impunity. As you seem to have experienced yourself, fighting (non-Police) crime does not seem to have changed much.

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