Rocky Delgadillo: Fighting for a Better, Safer Los Angeles
A native of the Eastside of Los Angeles, Rocky Delgadillo became the first Latino to win citywide office in more than 100 years when he was elected Los Angeles City Attorney on June 5, 2001. Running unopposed, he was re-elected in March 2005 to a second four-year term.
From the moment he took office, Rocky Delgadillo began implementing bold and innovative programs to build a better, safer Los Angeles. He’s fighting crime, improving our quality of life, and reducing the city's civil liabilities.
Delgadillo’s gang injunctions have contributed to a steep decline in crime in the affected areas, and his aggressive crackdown on gang bangers has led to a 33% reduction in the number of self-identified gang members in the City.
At the same time, his team’s highly-effective legal work helped bring to a close the Rampart scandal at a substantial savings. But liability savings under Delgadillo extended beyond the Rampart scandal – general liability payouts in Delgadillo's first term fell by 60 percent, to just $33 million.
The City Attorney’s efforts go well beyond fiscal responsibility. Delgadillo’s highly effective safe schools initiatives are helping to keep our kids out of gangs. Delgadillo’s Operation Bright Future – a tough anti-truancy program that targets sixth-graders with excessive absences – teaches parents about the importance of education and holds them legally responsible for making sure their kids go to school.
Delgadillo's award-winning Neighborhood Prosecutor Program – a ground-breaking approach to cracking down on crime at the local level – has taken him deep into the heart of L.A.’s neighborhoods in an effort to clean up our streets, block by block. For the first time in the city's history, prosecutors are getting to know local residents on a first-name basis, and attacking quality-of-life crimes where they occur.
Delgadillo is also using every resource at his disposal to fight child, elder, and dependent adult abuse; immigration fraud; and environmental crimes, particularly in populated urban centers. In addition to his success as a prosecutor, Delgadillo has helped make neighborhoods safer by slashing the city's liability costs by 45 percent and freeing up nearly $18 million to help pay for police and other crucial city services.
Delgadillo attended public schools, including Franklin High School in Highland Park. He earned a scholarship to Harvard University, where he graduated with honors, and received his law degree from Columbia Law School. In 1982, Rocky Delgadillo won the Robert F. Kennedy Award from Harvard, given annually to a member of the varsity football team who demonstrates a strong desire, determination, and willingness to work hard as a valuable member of the team earning the respect and admiration of his teammates and coaches. The LA County Democratic Party bestowed its annual John F. Kennedy Award to Rocky Delgadillo in 2002.
Delgadillo and his wife, Michelle, live in Los Angeles' Windsor Village neighborhood with their sons, Christian and Preston.