CRAZY DA STRIKES AGAIN

Gascón To Disband LA County DA Hardcore Gangs Unit

 

LAPPL News Watch

April 8, 2021

 

                                            George Gascón

 

Three weeks after FOX 11 reported on major changes possibly coming to the way Los Angeles prosecutes gang-related crimes, FOX 11 has obtained an internal memo indicating that George Gascón is disbanding the County DA Office's Hardcore Gangs unit. 

 

The latest comes as sources in the LA County DA Office's Hardcore Gangs told Melugin last week that they were informed by the office's upper management that their unit will be downsized. On top of the downsize, the unit will be renamed because "administration doesn't like it," Melugin reports. 

 

According to the internal memo obtained by Melugin on April 7, the Hardcore Gangs unit will be replaced with the "Community Violence Reduction Division." 

 

"So there isn’t going to be a hardcore gang unit anymore, because I guess the DA, George Gascon, finds that term offensive to the community," a prosecutor in Gascón's office told FOX 11 under the condition of anonymity. The prosecutor was one of the members of the unit who were called to the meeting to learn that the Hardcore Gangs unit was going to be downsized. 

 

Heading into Wednesday's development, the Hardcore Gangs unit has about 700 active cases and sources told Melugin that management admits the rollout of the change will be a "nightmare." 

 

"The gang unit was pretty much decimated," the prosecutor told FOX 11. 

 

The Hardcore Gangs unit is one of the oldest units in the office and it's responsible for prosecuting the most heinous and complex gang-related crimes in the country. 

 

In Melugin's report from two weeks ago, prosecutors had said they feel they've already been hamstrung by Gascón's decision to ban them from using gang and gun enhancements. With that in mind, prosecutors told Melugin earlier in the month that disbanding the Hardcore Gangs unit will be a disaster waiting to happen, given the surge in violent crimes across Los Angeles.