Law Enforcement Associations in Contra Costa County announced they are united in endorsing Paul Graves for interim Contra Costa District Attorney.
STATEMENT
“We have either met or are very familiar with all five finalists for the interim District Attorney position. We watched yesterday’s Board of Supervisors public forum and have read the applicants’ platforms and listened to input from our members.
“The work of fighting and prosecuting crime is ongoing. An interim District Attorney must be experienced and ready to step into the position and function effectively immediately. We believe there is one clear choice ready to lead the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office at this critical moment, and that choice is Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves.
“County Supervisors have also expressed their desire to appoint an interim District Attorney who can hit the ground running, and Paul Graves is uniquely ready as someone who already knows how to lead other prosecutors. He has supervised both the Homicide Unit and the Family Violence units with distinction – two of the toughest units in the DA’s office.
“Paul Graves’ extensive experience also makes him the best choice for improving public safety. As law enforcement officers, we know that our ability to protect and serve our communities is greatly strengthened by the experienced, seasoned judgement that Paul Graves will bring as a prosecutor with 22 years of experience right here in Contra Costa County. He has tried over 70 jury trials and prosecuted two capital cases, and over the course of that career he has worked extensively with our colleagues in law enforcement to build strong cases and fight for justice for the victims of crime.
“We have witnessed Paul Graves’ commitment to preventative justice that reduces incarceration rates. At each step in his career, Paul Graves has taken a proactive approach to crime prevention that emphasizes youth and community engagement and other preventative measures as evidenced by his support of the Children’s Interview Center and especially his leadership in the fight against human trafficking in Contra Costa.
“We encourage everyone who hasn’t had the benefit of our years of working with Paul Graves to read his application for interim District Attorney. There you will see the thoughtful, experienced, professional that we’ve come to know and respect.
“One last important point. The law enforcement officers we represent share a ’24-7’ full-time commitment to public safety. We know Paul Graves is a prosecutor who shares that dedication. We’ve been able to count on him over the years for counsel and advice on any case at any time, day or night. We believe that character and commitment is what the people of Contra Costa will value most in Paul Graves. He’s a ‘24/7’ leader who is fully committed to serving the people with dedication and integrity at all times.
“We stand ready to fully support Paul Graves as interim District Attorney. We hope the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa will support him as well. The events of the last few months have led us to this critical moment, and Paul Graves is the experienced, trusted prosecutor who is ready to meet that moment and move all of us forward.”
Respectfully Submitted;
- Antioch Police Officers Association
- Brentwood Police Officers Association
- Clayton Police Officers Association
- Concord Police officers Association
- Contra Costa County DA Investigation Association
- Contra Costa County Deputy Sheriffs Association (Co Probation, Orinda, Lafayette, Danville Officers)
- El Cerrito Police Association
- Hercules Police officers Association
- Martinez Police officers Association
- Moraga Police Officers Association
- Oakley Police Officers Association
- Pinole PEA
- Pleasant Hill Police Association
- Richmond Police Officers Association
- San Pablo PEA
- San Ramon Police Officers Association
- Walnut Creek Police Association
1 comment
I think Supervisor Glover – who is mulling Graves appointment to the vacant DA job – should take pause before rubber stamping Paul Graves appointment. Of the five candidates vying for the appointment, Graves seems to have the weakest grasp of what’s ethical and what isn’t. In fact, many are likening Graves to Mark Peterson, he appears to be just as much an ethical disaster as Peterson was.
Many believe Graves campaign team – he is surrounded by campaign consultants – were behind the mysterious poison pen letter sent to the candidates and the newspapers that called attention to the fact a couple of applicants failed to attribute information in their applications .This letter, which was sent anonymously -was a classic example of political dirty tricks.
In addition to this, Graves operatives also worked behind the scenes to try and get the two judges that applied disqualified. These operatives – possibly even Graves himself – actively looked for – but didn’t find – court cases and legal rulings that might somehow knock the judges out of the running on some sort of judicial ethics technicality. This, of course, was another example of the Graves operation engaging in dirty tricks.
As Supervisor Glover is aware, the ex-DA Mark Peterson was terrible on ethics, his office was actually ” raided “by law enforcement officials; Peterson was arrested, convicted of a felony, and he’s now is facing disbarment as a lawyer. This was a real black mark in the history of our county, you want to have a totally ethical DA, that’s a given, of course.
Given Peterson’s inglorious fall and all the attending bad publicity, Contra Costa really needs a DA who is a stickler on ethics, a straight shooter that will cut no corners. Yet the front runner for the job now – Paul Graves seems to have a lot of Mark Peterson traits; he seems to be just as bad on ethics as Peterson, as the Graves led dirty tricks operation – an operation that has tried to discredit his rivals in the DA appointment process, or even eliminate them from applying at all – is showing.
In addition to dirty tricks, the Grave’s team has been using campaign funds – he has raised 100K – as a tool to try and strong arm board members into appointing him. In fact, there is no campaign going on here, we have five people applying for a job -all eminently qualified for the position. Of the candidates only Graves is using money – most of the money coming from defense attorneys, as a battering ram to jawbone the board . Money, of course, should have no bearing whatsoever on the appointment , but the unethical Graves – and his hovering campaign consultants – are shamelessly employing campaign funds to try and railroad the board into appointing him.
In making his decision on who to appoint I feel real strongly Supervisor Glover should NOT be listening to these campaign consultants that are fronting the Graves effort – the ones engaging in dirty tricks, or the wealthy defense attorneys that are paying for the campaign consultants. I believe Supervisor Glover should go out into the community and start talking to regular Contra Costa residents. The DA’s job belong to the people, not to campaign consultants or wealthy country club criminal law attorneys.
If Supervisor Glover starts talking to members of the community many will tell him the following; 1) We are tired of money, such as the 100K Graves has raised, perverting the political process. 2) They will also tell him dirty tricks should play no role – whatsoever – in the selection of our county DA. A prospective DA applicant who engages in dirty tricks should NOT be considered for a job with Contra Costa County 3) People in the community will also tell him it’s time to start opening up these elected jobs – like DA or Assessor – to all members of the public, we’ve got to diversify these jobs – the county should not be run year after year by an old boy network (currently all elected county positions are held by white males). In fact, we have never had a single women hold an elected county job – other than Supervisor – dating back 100 years. That’s not acceptable, maybe for 1950, but not in 2017
The final message I have for Supervisor Glover is this. I want to remind him all of these police officer associations endorsed Mark Peterson four years ago, and I think it worth noting not a single police officer association called for Mark Peterson resignation after it was learned that Peterson was a liar, perjurer, and embezzler. These endorsements have to be taken with a grain of salt, the police officers members of these associations haven’t weighed in on Paul Graves – just the leadership – and these POA leaders are so uninformed they are completely unaware of the Graves consultant driven dirty tricks operation.
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