Hestrin bows to all the police unions

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is draping himself in conflicts of interest in his bid to convince voters to keep him in office.

In a recent campaign mailer, Hestrin presents a lengthy list of his supporters. In large font is Riverside County Sheriff had Bianco, who Hestrin has described as a personal friend. Hestrin also lists several police unions that support him.

While Hestrin wants Riverside County residents to interpret the list as showing how much law enforcement support he has, what the list really just goes to show is that the Riverside County criminal justice system is controlled by police unions.

Bianco, for example, is now best known for his far-right political views. He ran for sheriff in 2018 at the behest of the Riverside Sheriffs Association and was the beneficiary of roughly $1 million in spending by the union and other police unions.

The long list of police unions Hestrin lists as supporting him speaks for itself.

Hestrin, as a district attorney, is sure to insist this has no impact on his judgment. He told our editorial board that union support merely reflects the thoughts of the on-theground law enforcement professionals. But as anyone who understands public employee unions knows, that’s simply not the whole story. Public employee unions are fundamentally about power and influence. They want only elected officials who will give them what they want in office. They don’t care about the interests of the public or matters of prosecutorial integrity.

Hestrin has already shown that this influence can get to him. He opted to pass the buck on the case of the now-fired Los Angeles Police Department officer who shot dead a mentally impaired man and wounded the man’s parents. Fortunately, Attorney General Rob Bonta took up the case after Hestrin declined to pursue charges and has since filed charges against the officer.

Will there be other cases in which Hestrin does the same? That seems likely.

While it is regrettable that Bianco has received only one challenger, late in the game, we are hopeful that appellate attorney Lara Gressley, who we have endorsed, and former judge Burke Strunsky can force Hestrin into a run-off. Police unions shouldn’t be running the justice system.