Earlier this year, Rachael Rollins took office as Suffolk County DA. Many on the left praised her as a progressive reformer, while many on the right portrayed her as a rookie who is soft on crime. Morning Edition Host Joe Mathieu spoke with WGBH’s legal analyst Daniel Medwed to talk about Rollins’ progress just a few months into her tenure. The transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Mathieu: Now, the police were very wary of Rollins before she took over. What was the basis for their objections?
Medwed: I think it stemmed from one of her signature campaign pledges, which was to try to clamp down on what she considered to be over-criminalization by targeting 15 low-level crimes committed by first-time offenders — crimes like trespass and shoplifting — and have a presumption not to prosecute them. This rankled the law enforcement establishment, to put it mildly. A group called the National Police Association filed a grievance with the Board of Bar Overseers before Rollins even took office, claiming that her law license should be in jeopardy — that she’s too soft on crime and that’s an ethical violation.
Mathieu: Has the police’s stance against Rollins soften since she took office? Sometimes it’s different when we actually put things into practice.
Medwed: I think so. I think it has softened. That’s my perception, at least. The much-feared revolution has not materialized. She never categorically vowed to decline to prosecute all of these cases, she just said, I’ll presume not to prosecute these low-level cases unless there’s a countervailing consideration, like a public safety risk, and then I’ll march forward. And the data since she took office suggests that she is marching forward in a relatively large percentage of them.
