HAYWARD — Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell announced support Wednesday for the effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, saying that the first-term top prosecutor had “failed the victims of violent crime”.
Swalwell, a former prosecutor who worked in the Alameda District Attorney’s Office, decried Price’s policies on violent crime, which he said had let criminals endanger Alameda County citizens without retribution. Alameda County voters will weigh the recall of Price as part of the November 5 general election.
“District Attorney Pamela Price has failed the victims of violent crime, and their families,” Swalwell said in a news release ahead of the event. “Public safety is the paramount concern of Alameda County residents. Yet, under Price, the cops catch the criminals and Price puts them back into our community to re-offend.”
Swalwell, a six-term congressman representing much of Alameda County outside of its most liberal bastions in Berkeley and Oakland, has criticized the rise in crime in Alameda County in recent years, noting the uptick in carjackings, organized retail theft, and the armed robbery of a postal worker in Dublin, where he served as a city councilmember. Swalwell’s support for the recall could be a harbinger for opposition across more moderate Alameda County cities.
According to law enforcement data, crime in Oakland — Alameda County’s largest city — has surged since the pandemic and has continued to climb during Price’s term, which began in January 2023. Price’s office has filed criminal charges in 62.9% of cases brought by county law enforcement agencies, a similar rate as her predecessor Nancy O’Malley who led the DA’s office from 2009-2022, according to the 2023 Alameda County District Attorney report.
Price has previously described the recall effort as an attempt to “overturn” the results of the 2022 election, which elevated her to become the first Black district attorney in Alameda County. In May, she called out a dozen people who’ve donated to the recall campaign as “a handful of super-rich investors and tech executives.” Now, she faces a fight for her political future.
Leaders of the recall campaign accuse Price of failing to prioritize public safety since she took office. Brenda Grisham, a victim’s advocate and leader of the recall campaign, said Alameda County needed to take a strong stance against violent criminals, and Price stands in the way of that.
“We need leadership that prioritizes accountability and the safety of our families, and Pamela Price has failed to provide that,” Grisham said in the statement announcing Swalwell’s support for the recall. “As someone who has spent years advocating for justice and supporting victims, I am deeply troubled by DA Pamela Price’s approach to prosecution in Alameda County.”
The Board of Supervisors opted for the recall effort to take place in tandem with the general election on Nov. 5. The election may serve as another referendum on progressive prosecutors in the Bay Area following the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in June 2022. If the recall is successful, Price would become the first known elected official in Alameda County’s history to be recalled from office.
