Issues
My platform is simple: save money and save lives.
Increase Conviction Rate
- reduce back logs & case loads
- provide efficient prosecution
- prevent technical errors
Save Tax Dollars
- eliminate wasteful publicity stunts
- develop outstanding legal team/staff
- measure programs by “street results”
Protect People & Property from Crimes
- lock up violent criminals first
- cooperate with law enforcement agencies
- educate community about legal standards
We must stop the wasteful spending of the current County Attorney on self-promoting billboards and TV ads. We must increase attorney training to reduce the $16-million being spent each year on outside lawyers, most of whom were campaign contributors. We must stop wasting dollars prosecuting and jailing immigrants for “conspiring to smuggle themselves” across the border when the end result is the same…deportation.
We must use the money saved to go after the truly dangerous criminals walking our streets…to put a dent in the 40-thousand outstanding felony warrants in Maricopa County…to prosecute the 20-percent repeat offenders who cause 80-percent of our crime.
The County Attorney can do so much more than simply manage attorneys, although the office’s current high turnover rate shows there’s a lot of improvement needed in that area. Because the County Attorney prosecutes cases from police departments Valley-wide, there is a unique opportunity for a unified approach to fighting crime. Unfortunately, the current County Attorney has chosen confrontation over cooperation with police, the courts and the community.
I am a consensus builder among Valley law enforcement agencies. I created the Phoenix Police Citizen Advisory Boards that provide lines of communication between our various communities and the law enforcement officers who work for them and all our residents. I have trained police, judges and attorneys nationwide. I am a nationally-recognized innovator in youth and gang crime prevention. I will bring that leadership to the County Attorney’s Office.
Our people deserve more than just another politician using the County Attorney’s Office as a political stepping stone. I will pour my heart and soul into this job. You have my word on it.
I’m Gerald Richard and I’m running for Maricopa County Attorney.