South Bay DA Focuses On Gangs To Reduce Gun Violence On Streets
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- In an effort to curb gun violence in the South Bay, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office is taking a hands-on, innovative approach to determining who gets investigated, arrested and prosecuted.
"Criminal street gangs were driving most of the gun crime in our county. So that then gave us individuals within those criminal street gangs to focus on," explained District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
The DA's Crime Strategies Unit has adopted a data-driven approach that upends the traditional relationship between police and prosecutor in which law enforcement agencies decide what crimes get investigated and the district attorney's office determines independently which cases get prosecuted.
"What our bet is here is that if we focus on the small number of offenders that are committing gun crimes, we will be able to reduce the overall number of crimes in our county," Rosen said.
In 2019, San Jose had 34 homicides, up from 28 the year before -- a 21 percent increase.
"Lately, there's been a lot of cases, a lot of shootings around here. It's not surprising anymore. And I think they should do something about it," said Edith Nevarez as she stood at the scene of the city's latest shooting death.
Nevarez says she supports any effort that will make her community safer for her children.
"We have little kids to raise. And this should not be their future," she said.
