Riding into office on the wave of an electoral landslide,
District Attorney John Sarsfield got right to work on his first day
in office.
”
It was a good day, but I’m still assessing the office’s
needs,
”
Sarsfield said.
By state law, Sarsfield officially took office at noon Monday.
He didn’t waste time meeting with all the deputy district attorneys
in the office.
Riding into office on the wave of an electoral landslide, District Attorney John Sarsfield got right to work on his first day in office.
“It was a good day, but I’m still assessing the office’s needs,” Sarsfield said.
By state law, Sarsfield officially took office at noon Monday. He didn’t waste time meeting with all the deputy district attorneys in the office.
“There are a lot of good people here and a lot of talent to work with,” he said.
After meeting with the staff, Sarsfield moved on to some of the more mundane but essential duties of his office, which included working to create a policies and procedures manual for the office.
“Currently there is none. The manual is important so you can treat cases consistently and fairly,” Sarsfield said. “They are very, very important, especially for a law enforcement agency.”
He said the better part of his first day was spent making sure the office had its house in order, which included spending time reviewing cases submitted to the office for possible criminal charges.
The District Attorney’s office reviews police reports and decides if a suspect should be charged and prosecuted for a crime.
“Right now there is a very large backlog of cases,” Sarsfield said.
Working late into the night Monday, Sarsfield said he reviewed as many cases as possible and he will keep working on the backlog until it is cleared up.
To help prevent a backlog from building up again, Sarsfield said he was going to take matters into his own hands.
“From now on I’m going to do all the charging for the office,” Sarsfield said. “I like one person doing all the charging.”
For now, there will not be any sweeping changes in the office. But Sarsfield said he is already taking steps to implement his campaign promises of greater emphasis on gang suppression and civil prosecution.
“I’ve a real good idea on what needs to be done,” Sarsfield said.
In taking office, Sarsfield becomes the county’s first new district attorney in about 20 years, replacing former district attorney Harry Damkar who served as a local prosecutor for nearly 24 years.
Sarsfield has spent eight of his 10 years with the Monterey County District Attorney’s office prosecuting criminal cases, which included everything from narcotics to violent crimes. His past two years have been spent working on consumer protection cases.
Sarsfield said he will work to build close relationships within local law enforcement to heal the rifts between the DA’s office and the Hollister Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
