I was the guest host this week on the Lou Desmond & Company Show and my guest was Dan Dow, District Attorney of San Luis Obispo County California. On the show we discussed the disastrous consequences of Proposition 47 on California, now ten years in the works. Crime is rampant at all levels, there is virtually no consequences of criminals as a result of their behaviors and homelessness is like a Third World, Research shows that nearly 88% of the current homeless population is not due to being out of work but having significant mental health issues and drug and alcohol dependence. Prop 47 took away the opportunity for prosecutors and judges to have mandatory jail, mental health treatment and/or drug treatment as an option for being arrested. Homelessness today is really about criminal vagrancy and not being homeless. What’s the solution? It is supporting Proposition 36 which will give law enforcement, prosecutors and judges back some meat in holding people accountable for their actions and ensuring that those that need treatment get that treatment.
Dan has been DA since 2014 and was re-elected in 2018, and 2022. As a career prosecutor, Dan has focused on sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence cases. Throughout his career, Dan has dedicated himself to protecting victims, ensuring justice, and reducing crime in our community. He was instrumental in the creation of the San Luis Obispo County Veterans Treatment Court in 2013, he formed the SLO County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force in 2014, created the Misdemeanor Diversion Program in 2015, and established the Central Coast Cyber Forensic Lab in 2017. Dan serves on the Board of Directors for the California District Attorneys’ Association.
Dan has served in the US Army since 1989 and currently serves as a Colonel in the California Army National Guard where he is assigned as Staff Judge Advocate for the 40th Infantry Division. He has been deployed overseas three times since 9/11. He returned from a 7-month deployment to Kuwait and Jordan in April 2024 under Operation Spartan Shield. He was deployed to Iraq in 2010 under Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal; and to Kosovo in 2003 under Operation Enduring Freedom.
Dan attended Santa Clara University School of Law earning his Juris Doctorate and California State University, Hayward where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Pre-Law. Dan and his wife Wendy have been married for 32 years and have two children.
Dr Currie Myers Interview of Dan Dow, DA of San Luis Obispo, CA on the Consequences of Prop 47.