Kamala Harris - For California Attorney General 2010

To protect witnesses

By Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle
June 29, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO District Attorney Kamala Harris knows that witness intimidation is one of the biggest impediments to the prosecution of homicides.

Part of the problem, she says, is the "stop snitching phenomenon" that has seeped into the culture. The other is the sheer logistics of protecting the citizens who are willing to come forward.

The cost of getting a key witness out of harm's way -- so he or she can testify at trial, then begin to rebuild his or her life in a new community -- can run to $20,000 or more.

The state budget for reimbursement for witness relocation is a mere $3 million for all 58 counties. Also, the state support for witnesses of serious crimes runs just 90 days. As Harris emphasized in a recent editorial board meeting, this is no way to treat the brave witnesses who have come forward to make the criminal justice system work.

At the urging of Harris and other state district attorneys, state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-L.A., introduced SB594 to allow for up to six months of reimbursements and to change the name of the Witness Protection Program to the Witness Relocation and Assistance Program. The district attorneys are also pushing for a doubling of state funding.

It's the least the state can do for those who are assuming great personal risk to make the community safer for all of us.

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