It’s Official: Mary Knox Is Running For District Attorney Again

The long-time prosecutor reflects on her 2022 campaign, her Community Violence Reduction Unit initiatives, and the Freeway Security Network

Veteran prosecutor Mary Knox intends to run for Contra Costa County District Attorney in 2028¹. This would be Knox’s second bid for DA, having lost to incumbent Diana Becton in June 2022. Knox sat for an interview on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, and addressed a number of topics, including her motivation for running again.

Mary Knox

“I feel this County is really worth the fight,” Knox said. She added that Becton’s “negative policies” on violent crime, organized retail theft, and auto/truck burglaries are a threat to public safety in Contra Costa County.

Knox began her tenure the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office in 1985. She’s worked everything from DUIs to gang homicides. Knox even briefly rubbed elbows with Aryan Brotherhood heavyweight Ronnie Yandell at his preliminary hearing circa 2001 for the Mother’s Day Massacre.

“There’s no soul behind those eyes,” Knox remarked. She described how she was reviewing paperwork at the prosecution table when she realized there was someone sitting close to her at the defense table. Knox glanced over and saw Yandell waist-chained but didn’t immediately recognize him. Then it occurred to her it was Yandell. She added that Yandell seemed amused when she recognized him.

Knox wrote a guest editorial supporting Proposition 36 in the October 18, 2024, edition of The Pioneer, a monthly newspaper that serves the Concord/Clayton/Pleasant Hill area. The California District Attorneys Association-sponsored initiative would increase penalties for smash-and-grab thefts and fentanyl distribution, and re-institute treatment requirements for drug offenders—all of which were weakened by Proposition 47 in 2014.

“Since the passage of Prop. 47, homelessness has increased in California by 51%—while homelessness has decreased nationally by 11%,” Knox wrote. “Overdose deaths in Contra Costa have increased from 52 in 2017 to 183 in 2021.”

Knox noted Becton is the first named signatory to the argument against Proposition 36 in the Official Voter Information Guide issued by the California Secretary of State. Proposition 36 is on the November 5, 2024, ballot.

Reflecting On The 2022 Campaign

Mary Knox addressed her 2022 campaign, which had strong financial support, endorsements from numerous local public officials and notable figures, and a lot of visibility. Knox highlighted one volunteer who knocked on over 2,000 doors. She said her campaign constantly “kept printing yard signs” because of the volume of requests that came in from supporters.

Around two weeks prior to the June 7, 2022, election, a poll came out showing Knox with a 12-point lead on Becton. Days later, a George Soros-backed Political Action Committee dropped $500,000 into TV and social media ads promoting Becton and spent another $500,000 bashing Knox. Then the Tides Foundation funded a mailer claiming Knox—a registered Democrat—was a closet MAGA-supporting Republican. When the votes were tallied, Becton defeated Knox by 12 points—a margin of 28,298 votes.

The June 2022 was a low turnout affair, with only 35 percent of the County’s 706,257 registered voters casting a ballot. Of the 247,512 voters that voted in at least one race, 220,850 votes were cast in the DA’s race. Hence, 26,662 voters did not vote in the DA’s race—close to Becton’s margin of victory.

The three incumbent Contra Costa Countywide office holders facing contested races—Sheriff David Livingston, Assessor Gus Kramer, and Becton—all won with 12- to 18-point margins, suggesting it was not a favorable year for challengers.

Community Violence Reduction Unit Initiatives

Following Mark Peterson’s election as Contra Costa DA in 2010, Mary Knox—who supported Dan O’Malley—was transferred out of homicide and sent to the Richmond Courthouse to do preliminary hearings. She eventually worked her way back into Peterson’s good graces, and he appointed her head of the Community Violence Reduction Unit in the mid-2010s.

Knox, along with legendary District Attorney Inspector Shawn Pate, launched several initiatives to combat violence in North Richmond. Pate was widely regarded as one of the best gang detectives in Contra Costa and investigated the murder of Darrell Grokett in 2004. Several members of the Project Trojans (PJTs), a North Richmond African American gang, had alerted Pate that Swerve Team, a younger generation of Narf gangsters, were exceptionally dangerous and violent.

One example of Swerve Team’s shocking violence was the March 2013 murder of Lincoln Plair in Central Richmond. Plair, 20, was washing his car in front of his house on a Saturday afternoon. Two Swerve Team members pulled up in a Volkswagen sedan, exited, and fired 20 rounds at Plair, killing him. Then they bragged about it on social media. Plair was not a gang member and not involved in criminal activity. Instead, Plair was murdered because a North Richmond gang member had been jumped earlier in the day by arch-rival Central Richmond gang members. So, the Swerve Team members decided someone—anyone—from Central Richmond had to pay with their life and Plair ended up being the victim.

Circa 2015, Knox and Pate launched Community Violence Reduction Unit Initiatives in North Richmond. The initiatives had three components: Intervention, Prevention, and Education. The initiatives began with a meeting at the Shields-Reid Community Center. Soon, video game tournaments were organized, community gardens were planted on vacant lots, and members of the law enforcement community were giving talks at local schools. Meanwhile, Pate and the Safe Streets Task Force were targeting the “shooters” and getting them off the streets.

“It’s really fascinating how that is true,” Knox said regarding how taking just one really dangerous shooter off the street can lead to an immediate decrease in murders.

Creating The Freeway Security Network

Mary Knox played a key role in creating the Freeway Security Network, a system of monitoring devices situated along regional transportation corridors. Circa 2014-2015, 81 verified freeway shootings that resulted in eight fatalities had happened on Interstate 80 in Richmond and State Route 4 in Pittsburg and Antioch. The shootings were attracting a lot of media attention and the pressure was on to put a stop to them.

Knox noted that freeway shootings were extremely challenging to investigate, much less prosecute. The perpetrator(s) and witnesses are often miles away by the time law enforcement arrived on scene. Hundreds of vehicles may have driven through a crime scene by the time the cops secure the area, potentially altering, destroying, or scattering evidence. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) would typically be the first responding agency to a freeway shooting incident and often times shootings would be initially investigated as vehicle accidents.

To combat the freeway shooting epidemic, Knox worked with Dustin Saylor, a City of Pittsburg contractor who had helped establish the City’s video monitoring network. Circa 2003, Pittsburg established a 200+ camera network that included pan tilt zoom cameras (i.e., remotely adjustable) and situational awareness cameras (i.e., audio capabilities).

Knox went to Sacramento and secured $3.3 million for a pilot program to augment the Pittsburg network and add additional cameras, ShotSpotter detectors, and license plate readers to I-80 and SR-4. This venture was dubbed the Freeway Security Network and involved local law enforcement agencies, the CHP, and Caltrans. Knox noted that the cooperation from Caltrans was unprecedented, as encroachment permits to conduct work in the state right-of-way were issued in 2 days—lighting speed for an agency that prides itself at moving at a glacial pace. Knox also noted that the ShotSpotter detectors were innovative, in that the manufacturer had to calibrate them for a linear corridor as opposed to a more standard polygonal area.

By 2018, the Freeway Security Network was operational, and it paid immediate dividends. On January 17, 2018, Noe Saucedo, a meth head / car thief, was driving a stolen Ford F-250 around Bay Point. He was spotted by a Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Deputy who previously stopped him the day prior for driving on a suspended license. The deputy followed Saucedo but did not attempt a traffic stop, as he had been instructed to wait for backup. Saucedo got on SR-4 at San Marco Boulevard and headed east towards Antioch. At the Somersville Road off-ramp, Saucedo attempted what could be best described as a juke and attempted to evade the deputy by pretending to go for the exit, then back to the freeway, and finally down the exit ramp at high speed.

Saucedo lost control of the pickup and plowed into a Ford F-150 driven by a mother with her two young daughters in the back seat that was headed southbound on Somersville Road. The girls were killed and sustained gruesome injuries. The mother was severely injured, hospitalized, and survived. (The most messed up part of the story was that Saucedo was apparently a distant relative of the victims).

Saucedo went to trial in October 2019. During the trial, prosecutor Alison Chandler showed the jury footage of Saucedo being pursued eastbound on SR-4. She also published a license plate reader report that recorded Saucedo’s stolen vehicle on SR-4 near San Marco Boulevard around the time of the events in question. While the case against Saucedo was overwhelming, the Freeway Security Network evidence eliminated any doubt. Saucedo was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, evading a police officer, and taking a vehicle without consent. He was sentenced to 15 years to life, consecutive to a term of seven years eight months.

Noe Saucedo is incarcerated at New Folsom with an earliest possible parole date of January 2033.

Mary Knox said the Freeway Security Network came in under budget, which allowed for additional monitoring devices to be installed. She added that wiretaps later revealed gang members ultimately became aware of the Freeway Security Network and warned each other not to shoot anyone on the freeway on intercepted calls.

Stay tuned for more.

1. Contra Costa County is a General Law County. The State Legislature changed the rules during 2022 to require District Attorney and Sheriff’s elections to coincide with the Presidential Primary. Charter Counties (e.g., Los Angeles County) could continue to do as they have practiced (i.e. Midterm Elections). Hence, Becton got extended two years without voter approval. Should Mary Knox or any challengers advance to a runoff, it would coincide with the November 2028 Presidential Election.