# The Cuban George Gascón appointed prosecutor of Los Angeles County

**Date:** 12/10/2020

Cuban George Gascón, 66 years old, is the first immigrant to hold the position of district attorney of Los Angeles County, the most populous in the United States.

The Cuban American, born in Havana, is also the second person of Latin origin to assume this responsibility, after Gil Garcetti, who is the father of the current mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti.

Gascón, upon taking office, assured that among his work plans is to promote reforms to the largest judicial system in the American union, including suspending the use of bail.

The new district attorney will try to ensure that non-violent offenders arrested for minor crimes are not prosecuted if it is their first arrest.

Another of his plans is to promote the review of thousands of cases to determine if any prisoner should be released or given a lesser sentence.

"Breaking the multigenerational cycles of violence, trauma, arrest and recidivism that have led the United States to incarcerate more people than any other nation," Gascón said at his swearing-in as district attorney.

Gascón also commented at the ceremony on the importance of reducing violent crime in a sensible manner without applying systemic racism, mainly against Latinos and African Americans.

"We cannot justify racism as a vehicle to improve public safety," Gascón said.

After emigrating with his family to the US in 1967 and beginning to reside in Bell, California, Gascón joined the Army at 18 years old where he achieved the rank of sergeant. Some time later, he began pursuing a bachelor's degree in History but withdrew to work as a patrol officer in Los Angeles.

The Cuban American came to be chief of that city's police department, where he also held the positions of deputy chief and police chief of Mesa.

Gascón is known for being a critic of police excesses against African American and Latino communities, an attitude that benefited him greatly when Kamala Harris, future vice president of the US, was serving as attorney general of California.

The Cuban American reached the position after managing to win by a narrow margin of votes in the recent elections against Jackie Lacey, who held the post.