Progressive Prosecutors Face Backlash as Crime Surges

Current and former prosecutors in major metro areas explain decade of decline in quality prosecution work

Police tape blocks a street where a person was recently shot in a drug related event in Kensington in Philadelphia, Pa., on July 19, 2021. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Races for local chief prosecutors’ offices were once about who appeared to be toughest on crime.

Often called district attorneys or state attorneys, local chief prosecutors are publicly elected at county and sometimes city levels to steer criminal prosecutions on behalf of the people of a particular state.