EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Nathan Hochman is running against incumbent District Attorney George Gascón.

He joined “Inside the Issues” host Amrit Singh for an in-depth conversation on crime, public safety and his campaign to replace Gascón.

The lifelong Angeleno said crime in Los Angeles County has been on the rise since Gascón took office, pitching himself as the tough on crime candidate.

“George Gascón’s record is a record of public safety failure. And what I will do differently from day one is I will first start working with those 750 deputy district attorneys. I got their endorsement. I’ll work with the prosecutors. I’ll work with the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers to basically eliminate the extreme policies of George Gascón. He calls them decarceration. That’s letting violent, serious criminals out before they serve their full sentence and not prosecuting them to the full extent of the law in the first place.”

While Gascón says the spike in crime is in line with the rise in crime nationally and in part because of the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, Hochman blames Proposition 47, which was co-authored by Gascón in 2014, and his unwillingness to prosecute juvenile’s for misdemeanor theft.

“In 57 of the 58 counties in California, they prosecute the misdemeanor against juveniles. Only George Gascón stands alone by saying to people under the age of 18, go ahead and steal from the CVS. Go ahead and take your stuff from the 7-11. I, George Gascón, will instruct my prosecutors not to charge you with a crime.”

The district attorney has called out Hochman, who is now a registered Independent, for previously running for state attorney general as a Republican.

Hochman recently endorsed Harris for president but claims he has been a lifelong centrist.

“Twenty years a Democrat, twenty years a Republican. Now I’m registered Independent running for a non-partisan position where party affiliation won’t even be on the ballot," he said. "And I actually want to bring politics out of the DA’s office and focus just on the facts and the law.”

Click on the arrow above to see the entire interview with LA District Attorney candidate Nathan Hochman.

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