| Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer represents the 57th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Exposition Park, South Los Angeles, and downtown Los Angeles, including Skid Row. Jones-Sawyer was first elected to the State Legislature in 2012 and has earned a reputation of being a progressive reformer and champion of second chances.
The Assemblymember has worked on reforming judicial, criminal justice, and police policies to ensure greater public safety and equal treatment under the law. His P.E.A.C.E. Act (AB 89) transformed the recruiting process for law enforcement by raising the age limit to 21 with new college curriculum requirements for law enforcement cadets.
In 2018, the Jones-Sawyer successfully authored AB 1065, to deal with the crime of Organized Retail Theft and established the California Highway Patrol's (CHP) Organized Retail Theft Task Force. To date the Task Force has conducted 1,225 investigations, made over 1,800 arrests, and recovered almost half a million items of stolen retail merchandise valued at more than $21 million.
The Assemblymember has also worked to enhance living standards for socially and economically disadvantaged communities. One major achievement includes the creation of the Youth Reinvestment Grant (YRG) fund. To date the YRG fund has distributed $50 million to nonprofits offering mentoring, tutoring, after-school, STEM/STEAM, and diversion programs to students.
Jones-Sawyer began his political career as the Assistant Deputy Mayor with the City of Los Angeles, later becoming the city's Director of Real Estate where he helped propel the expansion of businesses and streamlining city operations.
Assemblymember Jones-Sawyers' family also has a history of involvement in the Civil Rights Movement beginning with his uncle Jefferson Thomas, who was a member of the Little Rock Nine. These were nine Black students first to be integrated into an all-White high school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Death threats and acts of violences towards family members, and directly at the Member, led to the family eventually moving to California where the Assemblymember would continue to be a target.
A graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) and the Kennedy School of Public Policy and Government program at Harvard, the Assemblymember has returned to USC as a Doctoral Candidate at the Price Public Policy School. |