Innovation Dialog | How DA Jeff Rosen keeps Santa Clara County one of the safest in the US.
In the latest edition of Innovation Dialog, County of Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen spoke to Diana Ding (Founder, Ding Ding TV, Silicon Valley Community Media) and Satish Chandra Vale (Indian American Community Leader) on a number of topics including his top priorities for public safety and justice, and how he balances being tough on crime while also being fair and compassionate.
Santa Clara County has a large immigrant and Asian American population and many families worry about safety, discrimination, or hate crimes. Diana wanted to know how can the District Attorney’s office better protect and support these communities. District Attorney Rosen also spoke about the State of California and Santa Clara County’s policies that limit cooperation with the federal immigration enforcement and the protections in place for immigrants under these policies.
Satish Chandra Vale spoke to the District Attorney Rosen how some minority communities worry about bias in the justice system. He wanted to know what steps has the Office of District Attorney taken to ensure fairness and reduce bias.
About County of Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen
District Attorney Jeff Rosen is a nationally recognized leader in criminal justice reform. Mr. Rosen’s changes to one of the largest prosecutorial offices in the country include: reducing the jail population, diversion programs for non-violent offenders, expungements for low level drug crimes, prison reform, and promoting the highest ethical prosecution standards. This, all while keeping crime at its lowest rate in decades, by vigorously and successfully prosecuting murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, domestic violence abusers, child molesters, corporate polluters, and those who commit fraud against the elderly.
Since 2011, Mr. Rosen has overseen the largest prosecutor’s office north of Los Angeles, serving a population of almost two million. The District Attorney’s Office has over 640 employees, including 192 deputy district attorneys.
Accomplishments
From gang homicides to human trafficking to cyber-crime, the DA’s Office prosecutes tens of thousands of cases in court each year and diverts thousands of others to achieve justice inside and outside of court. Under Mr. Rosen’s leadership, the Office is more diverse than ever, with women comprising just over 50% of prosecutors and African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and LGBTQIA+ individuals representing more than 40% of the prosecutors.
Mr. Rosen’s administration has successfully prosecuted many notable cases, including:
The Los Gatos woman for hosting drunken parties for young teens and facilitating sexual acts.
Former County Supervisor George Shirakawa for stealing public funds.
The Nuestra Familia criminal street gang for murder, drug trafficking, and robbery.
Three correctional officers who beat to death mentally ill inmate, Michael Tyree.
The kidnapper and killer of 15-year-old Sierra Lamar.
The nation’s largest mushroom grower in a multi-million dollar judgment for water pollution.
Numerous sex traffickers of women and children, which called for the creation of the LEIHT Human Trafficking Task Force.
Stanford swimmer Brock Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious young woman.
Inspired by the Brock Turner conviction, Mr. Rosen released Chanel Miller’s powerful victim impact statement that was read by millions. Releasing the statement helped change the law in California to ensure appropriate prison sentences for those convicted of sexually assaulting unconscious victims, in addition to intoxicated and conscious victims.
Reforms
As District Attorney, Mr. Rosen created an innovative, first of its kind, and nationally acclaimed Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate innocence claims and implement the most ethical practices in criminal prosecution. Some of the programs within the Unit are a Brady Committee to investigate police officer misconduct, double blind eyewitness identification, Open File Discovery, a collateral consequences policy to prevent undocumented individuals from deportation for non-violent and low-level offenses, race blind issuing to combat bias, a Body Worn Camera policy to increase confidence in policing, and a model protocol for the independent and transparent investigation of police officer involved shootings.
Mr. Rosen sent Community Prosecutors into marginalized and underserved neighborhoods to work with nonprofits and local leaders to reduce youth crime, truancy, graffiti, and gang activity. DA Rosen also implemented the twelve-week Parent Project® course – now completed by thousands of families – to keep young people out of the criminal justice system by helping parents of troubled teens strengthen their families. Further, the District Attorney implemented a series of Family Justice Centers throughout the County to make sure that domestic violence survivors had easier access to legal help, shelter, food, and counseling. And, under Mr. Rosen’s leadership, the DA’s Office created a Victim Services Unit to provide court support, counseling, restitution, and other services to thousands of crime victims each year.
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Mr. Rosen created the Gilroy Strong Resiliency Center to help the community address ongoing trauma. Within six hours of the 2021 mass shooting at the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) railyard in San Jose, Mr. Rosen authorized the opening of a Family Assistance Center (FAC), staffed by mental health professionals, victim advocates, and specialists for victim compensation programs. The FAC served over 130 people. Just days after the shooting, DA Rosen created extra training for law enforcement about gun violence restraining orders, started a public awareness campaign about red flag gun laws, and launched an inquiry into why federal authorities did not forward information on the VTA shooter when he was stopped at an airport in 2016 for suspected terrorism.
Mr. Rosen has supported propositions that allowed thousands of non-violent offenders to be safely released from prison and reclassified minor theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, thereby helping thousands of Californians successfully reintegrate back into our society and become productive citizens.