On Dec. 7, 2020, George Gascón was sworn in as the 43rd District Attorney of Los Angeles County, delivering his visionary approach to criminal justice reform to the nation’s largest local prosecutorial office.

On his first day in office, Gascón ended the use of the death penalty as a sentence in Los Angeles County; stopped charging children as adults; eliminated many sentencing enhancements that do not benefit public safety and contribute to mass incarceration; and, in accordance with state law, removed cash bail for misdemeanor or nonserious or nonviolent felony offenses.

For the former police officer, public safety remains his highest priority. As a leader among progressive prosecutors, Gascón is working to build a national model of criminal justice reform that supports and restores crime victims and while addressing mass incarceration, racism and social systemic inequities.

He was the first District Attorney in the nation to call for an end to cash bail and to launch an automatic record clearing program for marijuana convictions and the only District Attorney in California to support a state law that created a stricter standard for when police can use deadly force.

Gascón rose through the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department from patrol officer to Assistant Chief of Police. He served as Chief of Police in Mesa, Ariz., before being named San Francisco’s first Latino Chief of Police. He was appointed San Francisco District Attorney in 2011, becoming the nation’s first police chief to become District Attorney.

At age 13, Gascón migrated with his parents to the United States from Cuba. After serving in the U.S. Army, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history from California State University, Long Beach, and later received a law degree from Western State University, College of Law.

He is married to Fabiola Kramsky, a three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist.