[2] After earning a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State–Long Beach, Gascón joined the Los Angeles Police Department as a patrol officer.

[4] In 2020, Gascón unseated incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey with a reformist agenda.

[5] Gascón's liberal and progressive policies received backlash during his time in San Francisco and Los Angeles, leading to several recall attempts in the latter role.

Shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, his father lost his job for alleged anti-government activity, and his uncle, a union organizer, was jailed for over a decade.

[11] After the Army, Gascón completed a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State University, Long Beach while working sales jobs.

[16] Gascón had frequent clashes with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio over immigration sweeps allegedly targeting Latinos.

Arpaio regularly conducted saturation patrols and immigration sweeps, targeting Latino neighborhoods and day laborers.

[3][17] Gascón condemned the policies and tactics of Arpaio and his deputies, and actively worked to protect the Latino community in Mesa.

[3] He testified at a 2009 congressional hearing regarding the civil rights abuses committed by state and local police functioning as federal immigration agents.

[19] Gascón served as San Francisco Police Department chief from August 2009 to January 2011, succeeding Heather Fong.

[21] In March 2010, Gascón made remarks about San Francisco's susceptibility to terrorism by the "Middle Eastern community" that upset Arab-Americans.

[29] Gascón brought the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) tool to San Francisco to assist courts in making bail decisions more equitably.

Initial results indicate that for the 15 months following the implementation of the PSA tool, only 6% of defendants released went on to commit a new crime while awaiting trial, roughly half the rate observed during a similarly recorded period of time in 2006 during which cash bail was used exclusively to determine which defendants were released awaiting trial, according to self reported statistics provided by the DA’s office.

[32] He partnered with Code for America, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which kicked off a national movement resulting in dozens of cities across the country clearing marijuana convictions.

[34] Gascón implemented and launched California's first prosecutorial data management system, similar to CompStat, called DA Stat.

"[41] Gascón has taken a like approach to prosecuting youth in Los Angeles County, launching a program to spare minors from criminal charges for burglary, vehicle theft, arson, sexual battery, assault, and robbery in cases that resulted in no serious harm and involved no firearms, depending on the victims’ agreement, the offenders’ admission of responsibility, and the expectation that offenders meet their victims.

[42] "I don’t think any reasonable or experienced prosecutor would issue blanket policies,” said Hatami, “but George Gascón has no experience … in any court.”[43] Similarly, when a 17-year-old offender in a potentially fatal hit-and-run case was sentenced to five months’ detention in a juvenile probation camp, Deputy Dist.

John McKinney denounced Gascón for leniency: "I would have been considering attempted murder charges and at least assault with a vehicle.… He obviously cares more for offenders than he does for victims.

[47][48] Gascón filed a civil complaint against Uber alleging that the company failed to protect riders from sex offenders and other people who have been convicted of serious felonies.

[53] Gascón's campaign was endorsed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, U.S.

[54] Gascón campaigned on a platform of criminal justice reform, including opposing the death penalty and ending the practice of charging children as adults.

[55][56] During the race, he indicated that he supported creating a civil rights division within the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

[62] In December 2020, Gascón established the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office first Crime Victims Advisory Board.

Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on capital punishment in California, however the sentence was still being sought in Los Angeles County.

[66] Gascón also announced his office is reviewing cases of those on California's death row from Los Angeles County who may be resentenced to life without parole.

The audio recordings gained widespread attention due to the personal attacks, racist and colorist language, and discussion of political goals.

[75] While the recall's most visible supporter was former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, it was led by former District Attorney Steve Cooley,[76] as well as Desiree Andrade and Tania Owen, two women who lost relatives to violent crime.