Former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is stepping into a new role as the executive director of a new justice center at UC Berkeley.
Boudin, who was recalled last year and is no longer an elected official, believes he will still be able to make an impact on the criminal justice system – this time from the ground up.
"We are going to be doing work that makes an impact from coast to coast," he said Thursday.
In his new role, Boudin will build up Cal's new criminal law and justice center that will focus on analyzing public safety data, looking into how inequality shapes the justice system and advocating for certain laws.
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"I’m really excited about the long-term work that we can do here at the center to make sure our elected officials aren’t simply responding to the latest viral video or tweet but instead relying on best practices and evidence and research, implement policies that will actually make our community safe over the long-term," Boudin said.
Before he was recalled, some argued Boudin's progressive approach pursuing restorative justice wasn't doing enough to reduce crime.
Boudin doesn't believe Mayor London Breed's commitment to crack down on crime or District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' policies are helping to solve the issue.
"I don’t think the policies that Jenkins and Breed are putting in place are helping to make us safer," he said. "It is sad to watch as someone who lives there, as somebody who is raising my family there. I think there is a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of coordinated government response."
The mayor's office declined to comment on Boudin's remarks.
Boudin believes despite criticism of his own policies, he can reform the criminal justice system through advocacy and education.
"All of those things overtime build up to more justice and more safety – what we all want and what we all deserve," he said.
