London Mayor Breed announced Thursday that Brooke Jenkins will be the next district attorney after voters in the famously liberal city ousted the politically progressive Boudin in a special recall election last month. He will be sworn in on Friday. Jenkins, who resigned from Boudin’s office in 2021 to volunteer for the recall, is both Black and Latina. She will be San Francisco’s first Latina district attorney. Vice President Kamala Harris was the city’s first Black DA. “We are a city of second chances. But the truth is, we have to draw a line with people who choose hate, violence and a life of crime,” Jenkins said at a news conference announcing her appointment. “I want to be clear: holding offenders accountable does not prevent us from moving forward with vital and important reforms to our criminal justice system.” Boudin, a former public defender elected in 2019, was ousted in a June 7 recall election fueled by frustration over public safety in the deeply Democratic city. Viral videos of people robbing and assaulting the elderly, particularly Asian Americans, have rattled residents. Former District Attorney Chesa Boudin was ousted in a June 7 recall election due to the precipitous decline in San Francisco’s public safety during his tenure. San Francisco Chronicle via Gett Breed said she chose Jenkins for her experience, sense of justice and compassion for both victims and offenders. The mayor did not reveal how she voted on the recall, but clashed with Boudin over the enforcement. “She sacrificed her career to fight for the people in this city, to fight for the victims who needed a voice in the city,” Brid said. Jenkins, who also considers herself a progressive prosecutor, said during the campaign that Boudin was too rigid. He abolished cash bail for defendants and declared that juveniles would not be tried as adults, no matter how serious the crime. Jenkins said she would like those tools available to prosecutors to use at their discretion. In an interview with The Associated Press before the election, Jenkins said being a progressive prosecutor meant being “innovative in finding alternatives to incarceration, but trying to make sure our defendants don’t reoffend.” Boudin, who has not ruled out running for prosecutor again, said his time in office has been limited by a pandemic that has closed courts and intensive treatment and counseling programs relied on to rehabilitate offenders. Jenkins joined the San Francisco District Attorney’s office in 2014. He said he plans to run in November to serve out the remainder of Boudin’s term through 2023.
