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by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/strong> SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Jenkins-1024x768.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn a Q&A at Manny\u2019s, appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins last night shared personal anecdotes and broadly promised accountability. Meanwhile, outside the cafe, protesters chanted and blared sirens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside, Jenkins said she wants to \u201cbe the voice for people who are suffering.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She accused the media of polarizing the city, and said her presence as a Black and Latina woman in law enforcement could help change the Black community\u2019s distrust in the system. https:\/\/d-22344527032832586834.ampproject.net\/2208242209000\/frame.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manny Yekutiel, who hosted the talk at his namesake venue in the Mission, read questions from audience members who wanted to know how the DA would hold police accountable. That was a big concern for critics of the San Francisco Police Department, including the dozen protesters who chanted outside throughout the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One audience member asked for reassurance that some 10 San Francisco police officers facing charges from prior DA Chesa Boudin would still be prosecuted. Some officers face charges for destruction of evidence<\/a>, while others have been charged in killings of unarmed civilians<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jenkins did not respond directly, and instead shared a story. Her family believed that her great-uncle had been killed by police in the segregated South, Jenkins said, and she knew the feeling of being treated unfairly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAny cop that has broken the law will be prosecuted,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIf we can prove that case, we move forward.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was unclear from her response how she plans to move forward with the specific, currently pending cases against San Francisco police officers \u2014 all of which are reportedly being reviewed or have been delayed since Jenkins took office. Jenkins has also fired or demoted<\/a> all of the prosecutors who were previously working on those cases. https:\/\/d-22344527032832586834.ampproject.net\/2208242209000\/frame.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s very easy for her to step off and say, \u2018Well, I can\u2019t win that.\u2019 So that\u2019s what was going on here, just complete indirection all over the place,\u201d said John Talbott, a business consultant who attended the event. He called Jenkins a skilled attorney who knew how to talk to a crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Former American Civil Liberties Union attorney John Crew said the mere fact that all police misconduct cases are being reviewed under the new DA shows that SFPD members accused of crimes are already being treated differently from the rest of the public with pending cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked how she would protect vulnerable communities that have experienced injustices at the hands of police, Jenkins simply said that the DA\u2019s office should serve as a \u201ccheck and balance on policing,\u201d and handle seemingly biased cases differently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The specifics of how this would be executed, however, were not given. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the packed, sweltering room at Manny\u2019s, audience members fanned themselves and clapped enthusiastically at several of Jenkins\u2019 responses. All the while, protesters outside shouted through megaphones and rapped on the windows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yekutiel kept the mood light, joking with Jenkins about having faced protesters himself. After the event, a brief scuffle broke out at the corner of 16th and Valencia streets, before the apparent instigator quickly left the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flustered participants, including one protester with a ripped shirt, believed that the man who started the physical altercation had come from inside Manny\u2019s, but Mission Local could not independently confirm this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve never been protested before; I\u2019m not even sure what they\u2019re upset at me about!\u201d Jenkins told Yekutiel on stage. The protesters outside carried signs about high-profile police killings and alleged corruption by Jenkins and other politicians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jenkins insisted that she values transparency and spoke about recent news stories, appearing first in the SF Standard, <\/a>that she had been paid by the anti-Boudin forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn retrospect,\u201d she said she wished she had disclosed to the public the controversial income she earned<\/a> through an organization that helped fund the recall of former DA Chesa Boudin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But she insisted that income \u2014 purportedly earned for consulting work separate from her volunteer work as a recall spokesperson \u2014 was \u201ctotally irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have not done anything to lose [the public\u2019s] trust, in my view. I understand, like I said, how people would have liked to know the information about what I was doing on the side.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Attendees at Tuesday\u2019s event said they respected Jenkins\u2019 openness to speaking in a public forum and her admission that she should have been more forthcoming, but not all were convinced by her answers onstage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s definitely a politician; she knew how to really not answer the questions,\u201d said Boudin supporter Gayle Whitley, who attended the event. After the talk, Whitley blocked protesters making their way into Manny\u2019s from entering the room where Jenkins and other audience members were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Whitley was concerned about Jenkins\u2019 commitment to police accountability, and was unsure how the DA could go about resolving the drug crisis, which she pointed out is not unique to San Francisco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jenkins said her policy is to allow people four citations for drug infractions before intervention from the DA\u2019s office. According to data from the DA\u2019s office, the SFPD has ramped up<\/a> misdemeanor drug enforcement, with most of those cases being discharged<\/a>, thus far, by Jenkins\u2019 office. Upon the fifth citation, Jenkins said, her office would \u201ctake jurisdiction\u201d and get involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jenkins said that one of her priorities as DA is to go after drug dealers, though she did not specify how she plans to approach these cases, other than saying she would avoid deportation. She accused Boudin of releasing drug dealers without sufficient or effective consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n eleni@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n REPORTER. Eleni is our reporter focused on policing in San Francisco. She first moved to the city on a whim over eight years ago, and the Mission has become her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" San Francisco\u2019s new DA plans to prioritize anti-Asian hate crimes and prosecution of drug dealers and repeat offenders \u2026 but doesn\u2019t say how by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 (MissionLocal.org) In a Q&A at Manny\u2019s, appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins last night shared personal anecdotes and broadly promised accountability. Meanwhile, outside… Continue reading <\/p>\n\n\n\nELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/h2>\n\n\n\n