The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: William Wagstaff On Running For District Attorney In Westchester County, Future Police Reform More

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

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Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Power 105.1 is The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Of course, DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious and Charlamagne Tha Guy. We got a special guest in the building. He's running to be the first black district attorney in Westchester County. Ladies and gentlemen, we have William Wagstaff. Welcome, brother. Hello. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you guys sharing this powerful platform with me. I'm trying to do something that is not just important for Westchester County, but I believe that the vision that I have for this office is something that could be replicated around the country, focusing not just on incarceration,

but focusing on the prevention of crime. There's so much lip service that's talking about let's incarcerate, but let's really invest in the communities and let's deal with the real issues. Why should people vote for you when the election is today? People are listening right now. Why should they go vote for you? It's a Democratic primary. As Democrats, we have all been talking about how we want to reform the criminal justice system.

My opponent has been in the system for 35 years, either as a judge or as an ADA. So if you're trying to reimagine a justice system, you don't put somebody at the helm that's been a cog in the wheel of injustice. You put somebody that's going to bring a fresh perspective who has a unique background. I've been a civil rights attorney on the front lines

for the last decade. All of my work has been rooted in justice, not just justice for some, justice for all. So you take that and you pair it with a business background. I have my MBA, graduated second in my class at Fordham. Now you have somebody that has the administrative skills as well as the educational background. It's a dual threat, and that's what the people of Westchester need.

The people need somebody that's lived the experience that the defendants that are going to come before that office have experienced. Now, people would ask, you know, how are you on crime? You know, crime is up in all areas in New York City and in New York and surrounding cities. Well, actually, they would say it's down. It's not up, actually. Well, the statistics say it's down. It's not up, actually. Well, I think statistics say it's down. Correct. I think that's Republican rhetoric that leads people to believe that crime is up. I think it's what we see, too. I think we see a lot of crime outside in the streets. I think we see it on public transportation. I think we see it out there. So how would you be on crime? We're going to be fair. I think the problem

with the justice system has been that most prosecutors are looking at their conviction rate. They're looking at trying to give this veneer that they're a tough woman or a tough guy. We're not going to incarcerate our way into a safer society. The evidence is clear. If you look at what Vera Institute has done, if you look at what John Jay has done, there's been millions, if not billions of dollars spent investing the issue of criminality. And all of the PhDs, the social scientists have uniformly said the reduction in crime and reduction in the rates of recidivism comes from investments in the communities where crime is high. Educational opportunities, giving people workforce development, people that need treatment. Most of the people that are incarcerated right now

have some form of diagnosable mental health issue. Help them. Give them the treatment that they need. Politicians need to stop telling people these lies that they're going to fix it in one term. These are generational issues. It's going to take a generation to fix them. But if you have somebody that's going to put forth a plan and have measurable metrics that you can say, is this person actually doing the work? Let's actually fix the issues instead of putting a bandaid on it, doing these low-hanging fruit programs where we're telling the public, oh, we have this new great program. You know that you didn't solve these

individuals' issues, and you know that they're going to be back in the system. It's not even fiscally sensible. The amount of money that you spend to incarcerate someone, for each person that you incarcerate, if instead of paying for years of putting them in jail, you would have paid for them to be educated and make sure that they had the resources. This is someone that would have almost inevitably been a fully functioning adult, a taxpayer contributing to the tax base, so it would have been an investment

instead of them being a drain on all of the social services. What do you say to people that say you don't deserve their vote because you don't have experience as a prosecutor and you have a criminal record? I would say that those are the two things that they should be most excited about. So first of all, I started, let's just look at what I've had to overcome to get to this point. I started law school 20 years ago on federal house arrest. I walk into my evidence class my second year and recognize that the judge that sentenced me was my evidence professor.

She then goes on to write me letters of recommendation for my admissions to the bar in New York and New Jersey. Wasn't certain if there was going to be a delay or denial in my admission to the bar. Enroll in business school to secure a plan B. Graduate second in my class. So all of the things that I've had to overcome to get to this point,

to me is exactly what you want in your leader. You want somebody that has proven they can overcome obstacles and solve intractable problems. The statistical probability of me being an attorney with my background is less than 3%. The statistical probability of me being an attorney who graduated at the top of his business class is less than 1%. The statistical probability of me being a viable candidate to be the first black DA in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, I would say is damn near impossible. But if a person can put themselves in that position, why would you bet against them?

The prosecutor role is something that you do if you're an ADA. To be the district attorney, you're a policymaker and you're an administrator. Policymaking doesn't require you to go to court every day. I've done criminal defense work, so I know the criminal law. And honestly, my record against the Westchester District Attorney's Office is very good. So they should probably be taking some tips from me. And they learn a lot from me when I get to the position that I hope that I will get if the people put me there. So I think that people need to just reshift what their expectation is of what a district attorney is. They think that it is somebody that's been a career prosecutor. Then they've decided, okay, now I want to run the place.

And that's the reason why the system has not changed. You keep having people that have been a part of the system for their entire career and expect that they're going to push back against law enforcement, that they're going to push back against their colleagues, it's not realistic. It's going to take an outsider if we're going to ever get the reimagined justice system that we all deserve. After you're just joining us, we're talking to William Wagstaff. He's running for the first, he's going to be the first black district attorney in Westchester County.

Today is the day you have to get out there and vote. So get out there and vote. Just share the question. What was the first thing you would do if you get in office? Listen, I like that because I think that people make assumptions that they know everything that's going on on the other side. And you have career prosecutors, investigators, and people that have been in that office that are doing good work. So before you go in and start saying, I'm flipping the table over, there's a new sheriff in town, that to me is how you lose people.

You should be on day one sitting down with everybody in that office and going through the entire Rolodex of people that work there, that provide services for that office, and better understand and diagnose the issues before assuming that information that you have outside as an outside additional perspective is going to be what's the best thing to do. I think it's arrogant, and people make that mistake. They come in and they poke their chest out. People don't want to listen to somebody that's not listening to them, and I think that's a flaw a lot of leaders make. How do you repair a lot of the police and the community problems that's been had in Westchester

for a long time? How do we start repairing those problems? I think there's a couple of the police and the community problems that's been had in Westchester for a long time? How do we start repairing those problems? I think there's a couple of things. First, we need to diversify the district attorney's office. The office doesn't currently reflect the community that it serves. That's one. Two, you need to be in the community. You can't say that you want to serve a community, but you are absent from the community. And the only time that they see you is once a year on national night out. That's not going to work. At the end of the day, even if you can't reform a municipal police department because the DA's office doesn't specifically have that authority, what you can do is have a relationship with the community where they know even if this detective that's always given us a problem presses up on us, I have confidence that that case, if it's not a valid case, is not going

to be prosecuted. And they're going to be honest and say, this officer's a liar. This officer doesn't have a good search. They didn't have probable cause. So we're not going to squeeze a plea deal out of you when we know we can't meet our burden. Let's be real here. Most of the deals are just people operating out of fear. They're operating out of fear, ignorance, poor representation, and somebody that's looking at the defendant as just another client, another paycheck, or another opportunity to clear someone off their calendar, instead of realizing that before they are a defendant, they're a human being. And that's what we need to get back to. We need to reimagine the language of humanity. Well, the election is today. That's right. William Wagstaff, he's running to be the first black DA in Westchester County. Give him the final pitch.

This primary today is about contrast in choice. You have somebody that's been a cog in the wheel of injustice for 35 years, and if you want more of the same, where there's no police accountability, where people are not being treated equitably, regardless of their zip code, regardless of their race, their religion, or their wealth, then I would encourage you to vote for my opponent. But if you want a reimagined justice system, and you have a candidate in me who's shown you from their work, not just their words, that they are on the front lines of justice and that they have the courage that it's going to take to push back. When I was representing Black

Lives Matter, that wasn't a walk in the park. When I was representing the families of people who have been killed by the police and they were threatening me and my family. That wasn't a walk in the park, but I never buckled. And it's going to take that type of courage to implement all of the reforms that are necessary to get us the justice system we deserve. So if you believe like I believe that justice should be for everyone, then William Wagstaff is the logical vote and the only choice today. Come out and vote. Primary day, June 25th. Let's make history. I need your vote. Let's not wake up tomorrow on June 26th and say he missed it by 12 votes. He missed it by 15 votes. Whatever it is that you have going on there is somebody probably one degree, if not two degrees of separation from you that has been railroaded by the justice system.

There is a small window to change. Today is the day. Get out now. Whatever you're doing, figure out how you're going to get to your poll and vote for William Wagstaff. It's a vote for change. Thank you. There you have it.

Well, good luck today, William Wagstaff, ladies and gentlemen. He's running to be the first black district attorney in Westchester County. So get out there and vote. And good luck, brother. Thank you, brother. I appreciate it. It's The Breakfast Club on Power 105. I'm your homie Angie Martinez.

Where we is next? Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club.