California’s Dual Crisis of Crime, Homelessness Is Result of Decade-Long Process: DA

“This whole thing is very interrelated, it’s very preventable, and it was directly caused by poor public policy decisions,” he said.

A looter carrying boxes of shoes run past National Guard soldiers in Hollywood, Calif., on June 1, 2020. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

As crime continues to affect communities throughout California, an increasing number of critics, among them El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson, are questioning the state’s strategy in addressing the issue.

“[The crime spike] is all related to very poor public policies that have been in place or over, really, the last 8 to 10 years. And it’s taken time to build to that. But that’s where we are now,” Mr. Pierson said in a recent interview on EpochTV’s “California Insider.”