According to the LA Times, in her four years in office, Atty. Lacey has never prosecuted a member of law enforcement for charges of abuse or shootings. On June 5, 2015 LAPD Officer Mary O’Callaghan was convicted of felony assault under color of authority in the death of Black mother Alesia Thomas. Activists argued her 36 month sentence and a judge suspending 20 of them amounted to a mere slap on the wrist. The Final Call has received no response to its phone calls and email requests for interviews with D.A. Lacey.
Families of victims of police killings still awaiting justice and activists say they are now bracing themselves for a bumpy ride. They feel Atty. Lacey’s second term is sure to mirror her first four years in office.
Should people have expected police misconduct prosecutions from D.A. Lacey when she did not run on a ‘tough on police’ platform? Not really, though people still hoped for better, but they were under no illusions that would happen, activists said. After all, her mentor was Steve Cooley, whom activists told The Final Call was a “horrible district attorney who did nothing for Black or working class communities.” The reality is D.A. Lacey’s platform was not necessarily on police accountability, Atty. Gyamfi said.
In fact, there was nothing she ran on that would make somebody think that she was necessarily some great and better D.A., other than the fact that she would be an ear on certain issues, she added.
“It wasn’t like she was particularly, ‘Oh. I’m so for the Black community,’” but she was more of an establishment candidate, Atty. Gyamfi stated.
“She herself failed to prosecute the California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Andrew for the brutal beating of the mentally ill homeless woman Marlene Pinnock on the 10 Freeway, which on the video everybody could see that it was a savage and unnecessary beating and obviously criminal,” said Jubilee Shine, activist, and co-founder of the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police.
“Even the instance of the homeless man that was killed in Venice not too long ago, the Chief of Police Beck has called for the District Attorney to prosecute the officer, and she has even refused this call, coming from the very chief of the department … so it’s been apparent, abundantly clear that she has no interest in doing her job as prosecutor to ensure justice and protect the rights of the community when they’re victims of abuse and assault and being killed at the hands of police officers,” Mr. Shine stated.