George Gascón

George Gascón

District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco
1996, Juris Doctorate, Western State University, College of Law
1977, Bachelor of Arts, History, CSULB

In January 2012, George Gascón began his term as the first elected Latino district attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. Gascón has over three decades of law enforcement experience. He was hired in 2009 as San Francisco’s chief of police and, during his tenure, created the city’s first Brady Policy. Previously, he was the Mesa, Ariz., Police Department chief of police for three years.

Gascón joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1978, working his way up the ranks from officer to assistant chief and earning a positive reputation for reforming one of the nation’s largest police departments. Born in Havana, Cuba, Gascón and his family fled to the U.S. in 1967 and settled in Bell, Calif.

From 1973-75, Gascón served in the U.S. Army and received an honorable discharge as a sergeant. He is a member of the Harvard University/Kennedy School of Government's Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety and an FBI's National Executive Institute graduate.

A California State Bar member since 1996, Gascón sits on the Council of State Governments' Justice Center and California Peace Officers' Memorial Foundation boards of directors. While at CSULB, he served terms as Law Society treasurer and president. He credits the university with providing him a wonderful opportunity to become a critical thinker. Gascón has two daughters, Steffi and Monique, and is married to his wife, Fabiola.

From Alumni Awards 2012 program