As District Attorney of San Francisco, Kamala Harris proposed a program allowing drug dealers to be charged only after their third arrest. The 2005 initiative, dubbed “Operation Safe Streets,” faced immediate opposition from then-police chief Heather Fong, who rejected the idea in an October 24 letter. According to the letter, obtained by The Daily Wire, the proposal would have resulted in suspects being released after their first two arrests, with charges only being filed on the third. Fong warned that the policy would increase crime, particularly drug sales near schools, where suspects would be briefly detained but quickly released. She noted this could send a dangerous message to children frequently witnessing drug activity.
Harris has long campaigned as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, claiming she “took on perpetrators” of all kinds, but Fong’s letter reveals skepticism from law enforcement at the time. Fong expressed concern that drug dealers would flood into San Francisco, taking advantage of the lenient system, and that officer morale would suffer as releasing offenders contradicted police training.
Harris’ office defended the plan in an April 2006 interview with The Daily Journal, arguing that the intent wasn’t to let criminals off the hook, but to build stronger cases against them. Despite this, the plan was widely criticized. Defense attorneys representing drug dealers reportedly called the plan “weird and unworkable,” and even Harris’ criminal division chief, Jeff Ross, acknowledged possible media criticism. In a memo, Ross wrote that the program might be seen as “too tough” on offenders, given it could ultimately incarcerate more dealers, but urged that they push forward regardless of media perception.
A new report from The Heritage Foundation, released Wednesday, criticized Harris for being consistently “soft-on-crime”, adjusting her stance based on political climates. The report highlights her support for defunding the police, bail reforms that release violent offenders, and her refusal to pursue the death penalty in several high-profile cases. After George Floyd’s death in 2020, Harris publicly opposed the idea that increasing police presence would lead to greater safety, calling it “outdated and wrong.”
During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris vowed to overhaul the criminal justice system, pushing for the end of cash bail, expunging certain felonies, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, and restricting police practices. These promises were detailed in a memo from her campaign, which was later exposed by the Washington Free Beacon.
