Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley plans to retire after serving 12 years as the county’s top prosecutor.
In this pull-no-punches podcast conversation, Dudley explains why she is walking away and what’s next for her.
Dudley answers some hard-hitting questions about criminal justice reform, the mood of the country following the George Floyd murder, the reimagining of law enforcement, and the talk of defunding of police.
“We need to increase funding for law enforcement,” Dudley said. “What we have now is tremendous recruitment and retention problems in law enforcement. Every single, and I have never seen this in law enforcement, agency in Santa Barbara County is having trouble with recruitment and retention.
Dudley then talks about her upbringing and how she overcame discrimination and sexism to become an attorney.
Toward the end, Dudley talks about her “poppy,” who was placed on a boat as a 13-year-old by his mother and sent to the U.S. to protect him from violence in Ukraine.
Then, Dudley talks about John Savrnoch, whom she hopes will take her place as District Attorney.
Santa Barbara Talks is a podcast owned by journalist and college instructor Josh Molina