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Former S.F. Police Commission President to Run for District Attorney

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Suzy Loftus previously served as president of the San Francisco Police Commission. She hopes to move into the district attorney's office in the Hall of Justice in 2019. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Suzy Loftus, the former president of the San Francisco Police Commission, is launching a run for district attorney.

Her entry brings a high-profile challenge to current DA George Gascón, who has served as the city's top prosecutor since 2011 and was re-elected without opposition in 2015.

"What I'm hearing from neighborhood to neighborhood in the city is that people want change," Loftus said. "They want leadership that is going to hold people accountable for harming the most vulnerable among us."

In his time as district attorney, Gascón has advocated for statewide criminal justice reforms, including Proposition 47, which downgraded some crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

In doing so, Gascón has drawn the ire of the city's police union, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, which has blamed the measure for higher property crime rates.

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Loftus has had her own disagreements with the union. As Police Commission president, she supported banning officers from shooting at moving vehicles.

Before leading the commission, Loftus worked in the state attorney general's office and was a local prosecutor.

She cited that experience as crucial to taking on car break-ins in the city, which she said have reached "a crisis level."

"We have to work better and more collaboratively," she said. "Abandon the excuses of why we can't deliver results and start delivering results"

San Francisco political consultant David Latterman says Gascón's work on criminal justice reform has shielded him from a political challenge to his left.

"Now if you come in from the right, you also have to be careful," Latterman said. "While people are very frustrated with petty crime, in a larger criminal justice sense, this is really not a right-wing city."

Gascón's political spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Loftus' entry into the race.

Joseph Alioto Veronese, another former member of the Police Commission, has launched his own campaign to challenge Gascón in 2019.

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