If there are still any undecided voters in San Francisco wondering whether to recall Chesa Boudin, yesterday’s stunning verdict vindicating the cop Boudin tried to persecute should be enough to convince them to fire their progressive D.A.
Boudin ran for office promising to get tough on alleged police misconduct and indeed, he’s done his best to indict as many cops as he can. This latest case arose from an event in Fisherman’s Wharf in which an SFPD officer, Terrance Stangel, tried to protect his partner from being “battered” by a suspect, who allegedly had beat up his girlfriend. In the ensuing brouhaha, Stangel hit the suspect with his baton, injuring him. Boudin charged Stangel with multiple crimes, leading to a jury trial. Yesterday, the jury acquitted the cop on three of four charges, and deadlocked on the fourth. It was a major victory for Stangel and for SFPD, and an embarrassing defeat for Boudin, whose recall election is scheduled for June 7.
I should hope that San Francisco voters are paying attention, and that they’ll reach the same conclusion I have. In general, here’s how these cases go: police get a report of a thug committing a crime, often a violent one. They get involved. The thug refuses to comply with instructions. He will try to escape, or will fight or assault the cop with a knife or gun. The cop will defend himself. The thug gets shot, and sometimes killed. The media jumps on the case, with “breaking news” about the latest “police brutality.” The cop is put on paid administrative leave while an investigation takes place. Most of the time, either the D.A. refuses to press charges (because it’s obvious the cop was just doing his job), or he does, and a trial follows. The jury acquits the cop. The perp’s family holds a press conference on the Court House steps, with their hired lawyer. A mom typically assures everyone her son was a good boy who did nothing wrong, and demands justice. A few weeks later, the city quietly pays out a huge civil payment to the victim and/or his family.
It’s all a game and everybody knows it. The reason cities pay these settlements (in the Stangel case, the perp got $700,000) is because it’s cheaper for them to pay than to go to trial, where anti-cop juries might impose even bigger penalties.
If criminals don’t want to be caught in a fight with cops, they have two very simple ways to avoid it. First, they can choose not to break the law. Secondly, when the cops try to detain them, they can comply with orders. That’s what I would do; it’s what you would do; it’s what any sane person would do. Why in God’s name would someone fight with a cop? It’s a losing proposition. Just shut up, obey orders, and have your day in court.
The reason this case is so important is because it’s framed in time by two other events, one in the past, the other coming up. The past event is, of course, the recall of those three progressive School Board members. The future event is Boudin’s June 7 recall. It should be clear to everyone by this time that even liberal San Franciscans have had it with soft-on-crime D.A.s and wooly-headed progressives who care more about their social justice agendas than they do about protecting people.
The times are changing, quickly, thank goodness. I fully expect Boudin to be recalled, perhaps not by a landslide (as was the case with the School Board members), but easily enough. That will send another message across the country: even in liberal San Francisco, people have had it with race baiters and incompetent D.A.s.
Steve Heimoff