One of the largest police unions in Texas are calling for the ouster of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot because of the crimes he says he will no longer prosecute, including first-time marijuana offenses and theft of personal items worth less than $750, unless the theft was for financial gain.
Creuzot says that many low-level thefts are due to people being hungry. It seems to me that $750 would buy a lot of groceries. It also means someone could break into your house and steal your large screen TV and they can’t be prosecuted. The same could be said for someone who steals a dozen steaks and walks out the door.
He knows he won’t be prosecuted if he gets caught, so why not?
The district attorney also intends to curb excessive bail and probation periods, he wrote in an open letter to the public.
Creuzot said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that his new policy not to prosecute thefts of personal items under $750 was based on research that shows that people who steal necessities like food or diapers “do so out of hunger and poverty.”
“This policy was created to help address poverty-related problems, and combat the misuse of resources and taxpayer money,” he said.
Sgt. George Aranda, a Dallas police officer and president of the Greater Dallas chapter of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said in a statement Wednesday that he was disappointed that Creuzot “has opened up many windows to allow the common criminal to feast on the business retail community.”
When asked whether CLEAT or NLLEO had any plans to attempt to remove the district attorney, Aranda said that union leaders wanted to have a meeting with Creuzot to try to persuade him to reconsider his stance on not prosecuting those theft offenses, which Aranda said would take away powers of arrest for everyday patrol officers.