London Breed on Boudin Criticizing Crime Measures: He’s White and Didn’t Grow Up Poor, Doesn’t Get ‘Desire to Be Safe’

During an interview released on Thursday’s edition of The New York Times podcast “Sway,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that critics of some of her anti-crime policies, like San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, “did not grow up in poverty in San Francisco.” And “They are not black people who had these unfortunately traumatizing experiences in communities where there’s not trust with the police, but also, there’s a desire to be safe.”

While discussing anti-crime measures, Breed stated, [relevant remarks begin around 11:00] “I think a lot of people, like some members of the board, like Boudin, did not grow up in poverty in San Francisco. They did not grow up in these kinds of conditions. They have a theory as to what they believe based on their ideology, but they’re also white. They are not black people who had these unfortunately traumatizing experiences in communities where there’s not trust with the police, but also, there’s a desire to be safe. Right? And I’ve worked many of my years of growing up in this community to really turn that around because of the violence, because of what was happening and to develop better relationships with law enforcement and to hold law enforcement accountable for keeping us safe, too.”

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