Choosing a candidate starts with knowing what your personal preferences are

Candidates in Southern California are highly likely to say they want safer communities and a fair, effective criminal justice system. But they differ on how to get there. Here are some things to think about as you’re figuring out how to vote:

• Start with the facts on what is actually happening with crime. 
  
  • L.A. Police Department statistics show that violent crime has gone down over the past two years, but property crimes are up. There’s a lot of debate among candidates — and Angelenos — about why this is the case. One basic starting place as you make your choice is to determine which candidates’ platforms reflect that reality. 
• Consider what candidates see as the causes of those crime rates.
  
  • There’s endless debate about why violent crimes are down and property crimes are up, but there are many complex factors involved — the economy, unemployment, policing and more — aside from who’s in office. What a candidate thinks is the primary driver of crime will influence what kinds of policies they push for addressing it.
• What do the candidates say about how large law enforcement departments should be?
  
  • Should the size of our police force — whether that’s the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, LAPD or any other city police force — be bigger or smaller than it currently is? Should any of their responsibilities, especially those dealing with people with mental illness, should be shifted to unarmed forces like social workers?
• How much should we be going after so-called “quality of life” crimes like being drunk in public, loitering, or jaywalking? 
  
• What kind of accountability should there be for police officers? 

Here’s some additional background to help you ponder those questions:

• LA Explained: The Police (LAist)
• Is crime rising or falling? In Los Angeles, the answer is both, and leaders are struggling to respond (CalMatters)
• As LA Struggles To Ramp Up Unarmed Mental Health Crisis Response, Some Families Are Left Feeling ‘Helpless’ (LAist)

The offices that matter most on the 2024 ballot

The District Attorney, City Council, Board of Supervisors and L.A. Superior Court judges are offices on the 2024 ballot that will have the most direct impact on public safety and criminal justice in your community.

The L.A. County district attorney chooses whether and how to prosecute crimes throughout the county. The current district attorney, George Gascón, has intentionally prosecuted fewer low-level misdemeanors and rolled back penalties for people convicted of certain crimes. He says the criminal justice system has over-prosecuted some of these crimes, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown men and taking away resources from serious violent crimes. Eleven challengers are running against him, most of them promising a return to the prosecution of property and other lower-level crimes.

L.A. Superior Court judges oversee legal hearings and hand down sentences for crimes that happen across the county, from petty theft to homicides. They have a certain amount of leeway to interpret how to apply a law.

City Council members and the Board of Supervisors approve budgets for law enforcement agencies. This past year, the L.A. City Council and L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved budget increases for the LAPD and Sheriff’s Department, respectively. In recent years, they’ve also been exploring different plans for shifting some of police officers’ responsibilities to unarmed workers, like mental health specialists or social workers.