Jackie Lacey

Lacey has taken a lead in developing new approaches to dealing with the mentally ill and homeless as a way of reducing crime. It’s a task that she says will outlast her tenure as Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor but one that she believes will eventually pay off.

“We’ve got a lot going on, but we also realize this is going to take a decade to see a significant change,” Lacey said. “It’s happening, and it’s fulfilling and it’s exciting.”

When Lacey first broached the idea of trying to divert more people with mental illness from prisons into treatment, “many said you’ve got to be kidding — you’re going to risk public safety. But now, many of the members of our office have embraced it and are very proud of the work they do.”

After Lacey gave a talk to a room full of fellow elected DAs, she said the California District Attorneys Association also began to embrace the diversion of mentally ill offenders as a goal.

Lacey said she looks forward to getting hard data that will back up the touted benefits of her reforms. Providing de-escalation training to 3,000 law enforcement officers from smaller agencies, she said, should result in fewer use of force complaints and lawsuits. Moving mentally ill offenders from jails to community-based treatment should save money and engender greater long-term cooperation.

In dealing with the county’s homeless population, finding supportive housing options for the homeless and dealing with both mental illness and substance abuse is challenging, Lacey said. Then, things looked as if they were going to get tougher, when the Affordable Care Act — which helps fund substance abuse treatment — seemed to be in danger. “I felt we were going to take a step backwards when the Affordable Care Act was on the chopping block,” she said. “With ACA, we were going to be able to house people. That would have taken the wind out of our sails substantially — we are very close to seeing more housing developed for those individuals.”

Lacey said she is also concerned about a climate of anti-immigrant rhetoric, “because here in Los Angeles County, we rely on witnesses to come forward, and if they feel that by coming forward they could be snatched up by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], that would be terrible.” Immigration fears may mean fewer women who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault will come forward. “I’m watching that very closely, because our whole goal is to seek justice.”

— L.J. Williamson