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Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton outlines grants, restorative programs and race‑blind charging at RNCC
Summary
District Attorney Diana Becton told Richmond neighborhood leaders her office’s $69,000,000 budget supports victim services, a centralized filing unit, new task forces and diversion programs; she described grants for unserved shooting survivors, a restorative‑justice program with 250 graduates and early implementation of race‑blind charging.
Diana Becton, Contra Costa County district attorney, told the Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council on Nov. 10 that her office’s current fiscal‑year budget is "about $69,000,000," roughly half of which is covered by federal and state grants, with the remainder funded by the county.
Becton, who was appointed in 2017 and later elected in 2018 and 2022, outlined organizational units and recent changes aimed at speeding case review. She said her office established a centralized filing unit for misdemeanors and other filings so prosecutors are assigned to specific agencies; "Each of those prosecutors are assigned to an agency. So, like, Richmond has its own prosecutor who they can call," she said.
On victim services, Becton said the office provided assistance in "over 8,000 cases" and secured about "$8,000,000" in restitution. She described two recent federal grants that embedded victim advocates in family justice centers — one in Richmond and one in Antioch — to reach survivors of shootings who had no prior services.
Becton highlighted diversion and restorative programs. The Neighborhood Restorative Partnership, she said, is meant for very low‑level nonviolent adult cases and uses community panels that include local volunteers; "We've had 250 graduates, and only 1 person has committed a new crime," she said, citing the office’s internal tracking.
The DA described a major crimes task force focused on violent crime and organized retail theft, noting regional cooperation among law enforcement agencies, and announced a cold‑case unit that will use modern DNA and genealogy techniques where appropriate. She also said the office strengthened the public‑corruption investigative unit.
Becton discussed a new state requirement known in the presentation as "race blind charging," which mandates that charging decisions made at initial review be made without information that could reveal a person’s race or neighborhood. "That's why you can't know the neighborhood or anything that it came from," she said, emphasizing the law requires reporting to the Department of Justice and that her office implemented compliance early.
Becton closed by pointing attendees to the DA office website for public reports on fatal law‑enforcement incident investigations and invited community members to apply as restorative‑justice panelists.
The presentation ended with questions from neighborhood council members on municipal‑code prosecution, race‑blind charging details and the use of AI, which Becton said her office is testing for research and organizational tasks but requires human fact‑checking and ethical use.
The DA left before 8 p.m. for a scheduled class; attendees thanked her for the overview and her office’s outreach work.
