GIL GARCETTI
District Attorney

1992-2000

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Gil Garcetti

A veteran of the District Attorney's Office takes charge in 1992.

Gil Garcetti was head deputy of the Torrance office when he was elected in 1992. Garcetti, District Attorney Ira Reiner's former chief deputy district attorney, had spent well over two decades working at various posts within the office, from trial prosecutor to a variety of management positions. Garcetti was elected to a second term in 1996.

During his tenure, Garcetti emphasized prosecution of family violence, stalking, hate crimes, workers compensation fraud, welfare fraud, gang violence, truancy and child-support violations. He created a number of new programs to stiffen enforcement in these areas, including the Family Violence Division, the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team, the Bureau of Crime Prevention and Youth Services, the Hate Crimes Unit, the High-Tech Crimes Unit, the Welfare Fraud Division and the Real Estate Fraud Section.

In 1994, Garcetti created the Strategy Against Gang Environments program, or SAGE, which places experienced deputy district attorneys in the field, able to use such enforcement techniques as civil injunctions, or court orders, to ban the paraphernalia of gang activity, In 1996, after the brutal gang slaying of a small girl, Garcetti instituted Community Law Enforcement and Recovery, CLEAR, an anti-gang partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department , Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and municipalities, to get the most violent gang members off the street. SAFE WAY OUT, a hotline, is another Garcetti program. It refers family violence victims, in six languages, to the nearest safe shelter.

Reprinted from FOR THE PEOPLE -- Inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 1850-2000 by Michael Parrish. ISBN 1-883318-15-7