SACRAMENTO, Calif. – When Kamala Harris won her first election for San Francisco district attorney in 2003, the office's relationship with the city police force was in tatters.
She promised to rebuild trust, but the goodwill didn't last.Three months after Harris took office, a young city police officer was shot and killed.
Harris quickly said she wouldn't seek the death penalty for his killer, instead opting for life without parole. She'd run as a death penalty opponent, but her move surprised and angered police.“This was a symbolic thing to them of respect," said Debbie Mesloh, Harris' then-communications director.