Hochman plans to clean house in LA after routing Gascn in landslide: Untie the law-enforcement officers hands

It’s morning again in the City of Angels.Nathan Hochman, an assistant attorney general under President George W.Bush, dethroned Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón in a landslide victory last week.Hochman, a registered independent, took 61% of the vote versus a tepid 39% for the far-left prosecutor elected in 2020.

He’ll assume office Dec.2.It’s a quick comeback for the would-be hometown hero, who graduated Beverly Hills High School and received his law degree from Stanford.

He ran as a Republican in the 2022 California attorney-general race, losing to Democrat Rob Bonta.“Folks don’t agree on much nowadays, but they all agree that safety is first and foremost what they expect from their government,” he told The Post in an interview.Ultimately, the rise in crime, along with a lack of support from the public prosecutors union, fueled the fire for his removal.

A March Los Angeles Police Department report showed a nearly 3% increase in violent crime and a staggering 9.5% uptick in robberies over the course of a year, per ABC 7 Los Angeles.His victory came at the same time as the passage of Proposition 36, which would make certain crimes felonies instead of misdemeanors, including some theft and drug-related offenses.

Hochman told The Post the proposition’s overwhelming support will make his job easier when he takes office next month.“On the third conviction, what used to just be misdemeanors now can become a felony,” he said.

“The court could order someone to go to state prison or sentence them to state prison.Same thing on the drug-use area.

The third conviction, if you’re using serious drugs like meth, heroin, fentanyl, now that third conviction can be a treatment-mandatory option.The fourth conviction can be state prison.

And with fentanyl poisoners — and I use that word intentionally — it provides additional tools to really ramp up the punishments and the resources to go after fentanyl prisoners,” he added.On day o...