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We asked new District Attorney Nathan Vasquez about his tougher approach on crime

We asked new District Attorney Nathan Vasquez about his tougher approach on crime

Sakege05 mins

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Nathan Vasquez was officially sworn in as Multnomah County’s new district attorney on Thursday. In our one-on-one interview with Vasquez, we asked him what his tougher-on-crime approach (compared to his predecessor) looks like in action.

Starting with diversion, the launch of Multnomah County’s program has been controversial. Under the program, substance users have the option of choosing treatment instead of criminal charges.

But in reality, some have moved away from deviationwithout receiving treatment or paying charges. We asked Vásquez how he plans to hold people accountable.

Ask: At this point, they come in and then decide not to get any treatment and come back. Will you be intercepting at that very moment? Or will you have to find them later in the process?

Answer:Well, you know, certainly if we made a change to the way deflection is operated, we could do it. You know, other counties and other jurisdictions use a subpoena process. And then if someone does not comply with the deviation, then they have to appear in court.

That may be a model we should turn to.

Moving on to what some have called a constitutional crisis. Vásquez confirmed that there are around a thousand cases in which the accused do not have public defenders.

“I call it a public defense work stoppage. Because, frankly, there are more public defenders than prosecutors,” Vásquez said.

He says he wants public defenders not to refuse to take cases.

Overall, Vásquez’s approach to prosecution is different from that of his predecessor.

The year 2020 brought with it countless days of protests and destruction.

As much as people I wanted to blameMuch of this chaos fell on then-District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who some thought was too soft on crime, the investigation does not necessarily convict him.

A University of Toronto study Looking at hundreds of US cities before and after the pandemic, he found that progressive prosecutors did not cause significant increases in major violent or property crimes, stating: “We infer that fluctuations in violence and crime during this period probably have their roots in social changes. ecology of urban centers and rural areas.

Ask: Some viewers have told us they’re concerned there’s a narrative that more prosecution means a safer city, a safer Portland County, whatever. But studies have shown that that is not necessarily the case, that progressive prosecutors have not necessarily increased crime directly by their existence. What do you say to that?

Answer: I think there are a lot of different studies that can say a lot of different things. And what I do know is that there are victims and there are real crimes that occur that need to be handled appropriately. There is an expectation on the part of this community that they have a system that works and that they have a prosecutor who is ready to fight for this community and who is really ready to defend the victims, and that is what I intend to do.

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