Chomping at the bit to get Ross Mirkarimi to stand trial for domestic abuse, apparently, District Attorney George Gascon has some more fighting words for the sheriff, who pleaded guilty Monday to a lesser charge of false imprisonment in order to avoid a trial. more ›

After our too-brief encounter with Willie Brown at the Palace Hotel the other night, Willie asked us to remind him to "never host another sit-down dinner for a mayor." Apparently, dealing with the egos of all those luminous invitees is a huge pain in his ass. Willie can only deal with one ego, obviously, and that's his own. And then there's the logistics of picking only 300 of your closest friends to come to dinner. That might explain why he went cheapskate-style with the un-hosted booze at the bar. more ›

As with the Mayoral and Sheriff's races, yesterday's contest for the District Attorney's office left a clear frontrunner but not a clear majority. Current interim DA George Gascón leads the contest after the first round with just over 42% of the vote. The closest contenders, UC Berkeley Criminal Justice scholar David Onek and Alameda County prosecutor Sharmin Bock trail behind with 23% and 21% respectively. more ›

Police chief-turned-District Attorney Gascón hasn't done a whole lot worth mentioning since our dreamy former Mayor put him in the DA's office. (Actually, up until this point, it's what he hasn't done that has made headlines.) Today, with less than a month to go before the city decides whether or not he gets to keep his post, Gascón's office has announced a pilot program designed to keep chronically absent 9th graders in school. more ›

George Gascón won't be pursuing a criminal investigation in to the Rose Pak-backed Run, Ed, Run campaign, the appointed District Attorney said in a statement on Friday. Gascón had previously sent the case to his predecessor, Attorney General Kamala Harris to check out a possible conflict of interest after his opponents in the DA's race called for the District Attorney to recuse himself. After getting the go-ahead from Sacramento, Gascón's office told the press there was "insufficient evidence to proceed with any further investigation." more ›

In election year news, the race for the District Attorney's office just got a tiny bit more interesting as Alameda County Prosecutor Sharmin Bock throws her hat in to the ring today. (We couldn't find any photos of her in hats, but we like to think it was a party-ready fedora.) According to a Bay City News report, the occasionally bespectacled Bock already has the support of Ladyrep Jackie Speier and an endorsement from the National Women's Political Caucus, so you know she's got the ladies on her side. In terms of the male vote: it probably doesn't hurt that she's quite the looker too. more ›

Last August, Mechthild Schröer was shot near Union Square while visiting San Francisco from Germany with her husband and family. The story was some teenagers, spilling out of an overcrowded under-18 party at a comedy club on Mason Street, got into a gun battle, and Schröer was caught in the cross-fire. Finally, the SFPD is set to announce this afternoon that they've made arrests in the case. more ›

In a statement to the media, reprinted on the Appeal, the nicely coifed District Attorney explained that "new information has come to light" in the investigation of alleged police misconduct at the Henry Hotel, "that indicates it is better to turn over this investigation to the FBI." more ›

Just ten days after former Police Chief George Gascon was sworn in as the interim District Attorney, a lawyer at the Public Defenders Office is considering asking him to step aside from the high-profile officer-involved shooting of Randal Dunklin, the man in a wheelchair who stabbed an officer, on January 4. more ›

Although now registered as “decline-to-state,” former SFPD Police Chief / interim District Attorney George Gascon was once registered as a Republican. Believe it. SF Bay Guardian, who reports on the gruesome details, says, "a January 10 Los Angeles Times article...revealed that in 2008, Gascon described himself to the L.A. Times 'as a longtime Republican.' " Let the pitchfork and torch gathering commence! more ›

In a surprise move, Gavin Newsom appointed SFPD Police Chief George Gascon to District Attorney on Sunday after Board of Supervisors President David Chiu rejected the left vacant by Attorney General Kamala Harris. According to SF Weekly, who broke the story, "Gascon -- who has a law degree and, for that matter, ran a car dealership, too -- will be taking over an office mired in scandal and with a reputation for underperformance." more ›

As we predicted this morning, San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón made his official apology today regarding statements he made about our local Middle Eastern ilk possibly parking a van outside the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant and blowing it to smithereens. more ›

During a breakfast to celebrate a $412 million June-ballot bond to seismically retrofit a city buildings, San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón made a comment, according the SF Chronicle, about how the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant "is susceptible not just to an earthquake, but also to members of the city's Middle Eastern community parking a van in front of it and blowing it up." more ›

In the wake of that whole crime lab cocaine brouhaha, SFPD chief George Gascón is shuffling some staff, and promoting his recently hired buddy from L.A., Jeff Godown from commander to assistant chief in charge of Administrative Services. Godown will head up the investigation of the crime lab. more ›

Fearing that city officials are being unfairly influenced by lobbyists during hearings, Mayor Newsom wants to ban all texting and iPhone usage in city meetings. It's likely to be an impossible task, since we live in an uber-connected age when everyone thinks the minute they shut off their phone someone they know is going to die or get trapped under a rock. But this controversy apparently heightened last week when Supervisor David Campos texted Police Commissioner Jim Hammer during a Commission hearing on Tasers and allegedly swayed his vote against Tasers. SFPD chief Gascon, for his part, is pissed and obviously got Gavin's ear. more ›

A judge in NYC has ruled that Critical Mass needs a parade permit. more ›

Has anyone heard of this thing called the War on Drugs started by President Nixon, in which drug dealers and users get thrown in jail in order to clean up our streets and save our great nation from ruin, only to have them be replaced by different dealers and users the next day? Well, our new police chief George Gascon apparently sides with Nixon and Reagan on this debate, and recently announced a sweep of the Tenderloin in which 300 people were arrested in an effort to rid the area of drugs and prostitution. Good fucking luck! more ›

San Francisco's newest beacon of hope, George Gascón, starts his first day as the city's police chief, forcing journalists throughout the Bay Area to learn how to use the accent mark feature. What are Gascón's plans for hotheaded San Francisco? Well, according to , he wants to "implementing CompStat, a statistics-driven computer program that will help determine crime trends and deployment; improving the homicide clearance rate by sending some detectives to work at district stations; improving ties with the community; changing the way officers are disciplined; and requiring that sergeants give their officers daily missions." In related news, Gascón (who is here sans contract) might not be here for long, since the more desirable LA police chief gig has recently become available. more ›