and i was very proud to support george gascon in this race for district attorney. and i did so because of his record, because of his consistency, because of his directness, because of his ability. i'm very proud that gavin newsom as mayor appointed him police chief and then district attorney and many times people who are appointed can't win in an election, but george gascon did win and today he is here on his own as an elected official with 62% of the vote in the city and county of san francisco. [applause] >> he is the 12th elected d.a. and our first hispanic american district attorney. [applause] >> gavin mentioned all the various accomplishments that he has had introducing the chief of police here, a computerized crime tracking system, go ahead, that's an important thing. only more than one person should clap. [applause] >> only one thing i'm terribly jealous of is that during his tenure, murders in san francisco were the lowest they had been in half a century. [cheers and applause] >> i thought i was the one who did that. willie thought he was the one who did t

[applause] >> to the honorable and district attorney george gascon, distinguished leadership guests,y of san francisco by the golden gate, a world class city and you cannot have a world class city if you do not have a world class leadership as well as a world class people and a world class district attorney in the person of george gascon. will you be so kind to indulge with me in a prayer by bowing your heads. mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. truth shall spring out of the earth. the righteousness should look down from heaven. let judgment run down like water and righteousness as a mighty stream. as st. paul said, i quality, therefore -- exalt, therefore, suspect my indication, prayer, intersession be made to all men. kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. for this is the will, this is the good and acceptable in the sight of god, our savior, who have all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of his truth. amen. [applause] >> well, it's my great pleasure to be

] >> well, it's my great pleasure to be a part of today's celebration and to district attorney george gascon, i want to welcome you to being the -- and good luck. [laughter] as the next chief elected law enforcement officer of the great city and county of san francisco. it's a great job. it's a great job. it's so great that i always have a smile on my face as i'm traveling between san francisco and sacramento listening to kcbs and they talk about some horrific crime and they want comments from the district attorney and of course, i'm always like, did we respond and i realize that is george's job. but it really is a great job, george. you get to work with wonderful people like, of course, our now newly elected and soon to be inaugurated mayor ed lee. you get to -- [applause] >> you find that when you're the district attorney of san francisco, you definitely want to have friends in sacramento, in particular in the legislature because we have a very active office that is often finding ways that we can improve the laws and so we have found a great leader in senator mark leno who is here, of cour

i know that george gascon is the kind of individual as a leader in law enforcement who will make one of the greatest district attorneys of san francisco. [applause] >> he has talked with me many times about the men and women of the san francisco district attorney's office who are the support staff, who are the attorneys, who are the investigators and about his desire to support their work and to continue its excellence. so as the former district attorney of san francisco, i know that we are in good hands as a person who lives in san francisco and cares still about this city no matter how far we travel and how big the state is. i know that in george gascon, we will have a future for san francisco that is really in large part in part of what we all are as the legacy that starts with the san francisco's d.a. office at least going back to pat brown which is having a d.a.'s office which is a model of what our state can do in terms of law enforcement and the smart on crime approach. so, george, i want to congratulate you and wish you good luck. you probably have that phone like i had, ther

i spoke with him earlier. >> george gascon, welcome. good to have you here. i want to begin with some crime statistics that came out this week in san francisco. crime rate has been historically low. 50 murders i believe in 2011. that's down more than it has been in the last several years. yet down in san jose the number of murders have doubled. we have seen a rise. what makes the difference in one community to another when it comes to particularly violent crimes? >> there is a variety of factors. san francisco had very high murder rates until 2008. frankly most major citiesograph down. 2009 was sort of the turn around year. mid-year we brought it down to 45. 2010 was 50. 2011, 50. >> you were the police chief. >> yes, for the two years. 2009 and 2010. >> having god policing. having officers and having a didn't that understands the role that focuses more and understands who is committing the crimes and puts the attention in those places. >> your didn't like all law enforcement is having to do more with less, budget cuts. i'm sure you are facing another round o

i, and george gascon, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states, and to the constitution of the stick california, and i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office of district attorney of the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] >> it is really a tremendous honor for me to be here today. first, i want to say a few words in spanish. [speaking spanish] to my sons, you are incredible. i am so proud of all of you. before i go on, i also want to say a few words to the people behind me. these people have made the difference for me. i am going to start with mayer brown, who became a friend a long time ago. has always been a supporter, someone that i trust his counse

i also recognize george gascÓn, our new district attorney.thank you for being here to help us celebrate this new year. we're here at the gate and chinatown. we are here to signal that our lunar year, the year of the dragon, will be enjoyed by everybody without exception, and that everyone should feel safe. but also that, you know, there is education. if there is anything that they are teaching us, it is to prevent ourselves from being victims. so that there is less problems for everybody and that we recognize that the greatest hassle is for us to be victims of circumstances that we could actually prevent. so, watching out for each other, working with our officers, knowing that there is a great captain at our local police station that has command of everybody here that is competent, can speak different languages, that can get to any signal that there is something that is wrong is going on. and then, most importantly, that we do celebrate this wonderful occasion in the most positive way with everybody. we want people to come into our city and c

god, our compassion and justice, on this joyful occasion of this swearing in of george gascon, we ask you to bless the george, his wife, family, and wrens. empower the district attorney with the gifts of an ever deeper desire for truth, fairness, justice, equality, strength, professionalism, and integrity, so as to serve all of us, the people of our city of st. francis better. whenever our socio-economic background, culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, a belief system order religious tradition. bless his staff and all that work alongside him in his important mission for our common good. bless him with comfort and easy answers. bless him with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so he will work for restorative justice, always remembering those without a voice or power in our society. to this end, blessed george with the foolishness to think that he can make a difference in this world so that he will do the things that others will tell him cannot be done. george, correct my spanish afterwards, please. [speaking spanish] amen. [applause] >> ladies and gentlem

district attorney george gascon is charging sheriff ross markarimi with one count of domestic violence battery, one count of child endangerment, and one count of dissuading a witness. they are all misdemeanors. the charges stem from an incident at markarimi's home in san francisco on new year's eve. markarimi's wife, ileana lopez, told a neighbor markarimi bruised her arm. he's not cooperating, which is common in domestic violence cases, but he says evidence supports the charges. gascon says the police department, the san francisco police department is also investigating additional possible instances of other domestic violence abuse at the home. gascon won't elaborate on the evidence but says he believes he has a solid case. he says his first priority is the safety of lopez and her child. markarimi is expected to be arraigned in court on these three charges on tuesday. he is also expected to be booked into jail -- booked on these charges tonight. so again, newly elected sheriff, ross markarimi, is facing three charges in relation to alleged domestic violence abuse against his wife. bac

george gascon is entrance's first latino elected district attorney.gurations are scheduled for this weekend. on sunday around 11:00 a.m.. san francisco mayor ed lee will take his oath of office at city hall. ross will be sworn in as the new sheriff at the san francisco war memorial. >>> 6:38 is the time right now. back to sal check in on the commute. >> it looks pretty good dave and pam. we are off to a nice friday start. we are look at highway 4 this time. you can see highway -- expect in parts of antioch. also here at the bay bridge toll plaza we have a little bit of a backup. no major problems approaching the bridge. if you are driving in the car pool lane you probably won't stop at all coming on to the bridge. no problems into san francisco. as we look at the peninsula i guess you are trying to catch -- one of the directors told me it's foggy in san jose downtown. i think that was meant for steve. but i can use it too. >> you know they do that to me as well. >>> before we get going here. yes, fog in san jose. real quick. yesterday san diego was 83

george gascon took an oath of office and initially began the first latino elect -- and became the first latino elected district attorney. >> i love this place. >> reporter: george gascon and wife no carrierringringconnect 0 . >>> ... park officials say the dog was with the dog walker. the dog's owner has been tried. we tried to locate him at the san fransisco address given on the citation according to the incident report zong was carrying for five dogs but only two released. other peopleç are concerned tht this will cause more areas to be offlimit to the dogs. >> it's not the dogs but the owners that are the problem and i don't know what you do about it. >> reporter: the paddock sensing was upgrade the in 2007 and the service areases aresenvated last fall for the arrival of the new cat. . >>> a san jose nurse facing murder charges made her first court appearance today. 40-year-old segal sidiq is accused of killing her mother with a machete. the arraignment is to be postponed to allow more time to review the case. she will plead not guilty. >> it is a case where you have a woman charged

that's 1-877-230-6352. >>> san francisco's hall of justice where district attorney george gascone isng. >> he's currently announcing charges against ross mirkarimi. let's listen, live. >> there is a saying all over the place here. and we do not relish having to bring charges against an elected official. i have taken an oath to uphold the law. as a chief law enforcement officer for the state and county of san francisco it's my duty to bring charges when the ofdz for suction action. -- such action. >> and sorry. we're having problems with video. we're hearing the voice and we're going to try again. >> here we are. >> our decision here is like in all domestic violence cases kbais baised on the evidence in this case. the case is always stronger if the victim is willing to testify. however, it's common for victims to be uncooperative in domestic violence cases. we have all heard of victims in situations that are unwilling to sup the -- support the prosecution of the abuser. regardless of whether the victim... we do not turn a wlind -- blind eye. it is our obligation to protect all victims

latino elected district attorney. >> i love this place. >> reporter: george gascon and wife . >>> ... park officials say the dog was with the dog walker. the dog's owner has been tried. we tried to locate him at the san fransisco address given on the citation according to the incident report zong was carrying for five dogs but only two released. other people are concerned that this will cause more areas to be offlimit to the dogs. >> it's not the dogs but the owners that are the problem and i don't know what you do about it. >> reporter: the paddock sensing was upgrade the in 2007 and the service areases aresenvated last fall for the arrival of the new cat. . >>> a san jose nurse facing murder charges made her first court appearance today. 40-year-old segal sidiq is accused of killing her mother with a machete. the arraignment is to be postponed to allow more time to review the case. she will plead not guilty. >> it is a case where you have a woman charged, as i say, a very heinous crime. she deserves all the legal protections we have here in the united states. >> the mercury news is