Jim Shore, one of four in the race, says his passion is
preventing and getting ahead of crime
Gilroy – It wasn’t until Jim Shore traveled to Washington D.C. with his family last fall that he decided to run for the top seat in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office. Looking out over the capital and realizing the important events that took place there in the past, inspired him to try and make a difference in his own community.
He was the last of four candidates to enter the race for District Attorney after George Kennedy announced his retirement after 16 years in office, and is hoping his experience and vision will give him an edge over the competition.
“This is a big step for me, I’ve never run for office before,” Deputy District Attorney Shore said. “It’s so fundamentally American – it’s exciting for me. I’m just trying to concentrate in my own way to make this state and community better.”
The three other candidates vying to replace Kennedy include Superior Court Judge Dolores Carr, Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu – who has Kennedy’s backing, and Assistant District Attorney Marc Buller.
For the past 17 years, Shore has worked in the DA’s office and early on specialized with violent felony assaults, rape, and murder cases. He also worked on quality of life crimes including vandalism and public drunkenness.
“My passion is really getting ahead of crime and preventing crime,” he said. “I think the next DA needs to spend more time and more effort preventing crimes before they occur. We need to focus on prevention because we’re spending more and more of our dollars in the criminal justice system on intervention.”
As the leader of the Santa Clara County Government Attorneys Association and the California Prosecutors Association, he has fought to help pass a bill expanding Megan’s Law. He recently called for lifetime monitoring of sex offenders with Global Positioning Systems and threw his support behind Jessica’s Law, which pushes for increased penalties for sex offenders.
“I think we need to focus on keeping the public safe, and that means being tough on crime,” Shore said. “I understand that sex offenders suffer from a disease from which there is no cure. (Children) are the ones who are the most vulnerable to not know who’s in their neighborhood.”
If elected, Shore plans to step up training for DA’s and make sure the equipment they’re using is up to date. He hopes to improve the technology they have available to them, and believes that giving them better tools will enable them to work smarter and more efficiently.
“It’s not possible to put a police officer on every street corner,” Shore said. “I think we need to get ahead of the criminals.”
He believes the public needs to trust the DA’s office.
As District Attorney, Shore would have an annual ethics audit of its prosecutors and supervisors. An outside panel of independent experts would conduct the review so it is not tainted by political interest, he said.
“The public deserves knowing that we are doing everything by the book,” Shore said. “I think that we should do a management audit – something that’s never been done here. We ought to set those goals so the public can benchmark how we’re doing.”
He believes greater transparency in the office will create a better relationship with the community it serves.
“I don’t want to be the type of leader that just says, ‘Trust me.’ I want to show people,” he said. “We have to have a partnership, the DA’s office and the community.”
To learn more about the candidates, log onto Web sites at www.marcbuller.com, www.shoreforda.com, www.judgecarrforda.com, www.sinunu4da.com, and check with Smartvoter.org as the election nears for additional information.
