A group dissatisfied with the performance of Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton has begun the effort to recall her from office, after voters in recent years took similar steps against top prosecutors in Alameda County and San Francisco.

An organization called Recall Diana Becton posted video on social media that the group said showed a person serving Becton with a notice of intent to recall her from office. That interaction took place Monday as Becton went into the back entrance of the district attorney’s office.

“We the victims of crime, their families, local business owners and employees, as well as residents of Contra Costa County, have reached our limit and are initiating the recall of District Attorney Diana Becton,” the notice states. “We are increasingly concerned about the persistent cycle of unaddressed criminal activity. We are frustrated by her continuous empty promises to victims and their families that justice will prevail while she permits criminals to roam free.”

Becton has seven days to respond. Ted Asregadoo, a spokesperson for Becton’s office, said in an afternoon statement said that when she does, “Her answer will be her public comment.”

The group on its website listed 10 people as the top 10 proponents of the campaign, a list that included the families of Alexis Gabe, Damond Lazenby Jr. and Thomas Arellano.

Gabe vanished in January 2022, and the remains of her body were found in Amador County two years later; police killed her ex-boyfriend in a June 2022 raid in Washington and Becton decided not to file criminal charges against that man’s mother for allegedly aiding him after the killing.

Lazenby’s body was found near state Highway 4 by the Port Chicago Highway exit in Concord in January 2023 following a fatal hit-and-run. His family said the handling of his death by the coroner heightened the family’s concern about the transparency and accountability with the case, according to the group.

Arellano, 31, was stabbed to death in Concord on Jan. 22, 2022. Gerald Delgado, 39, accepted a 13-year-prison term as part of a plea deal with county prosecutors, and the murder charges were dismissed.

Becton is not the first district attorney in the Bay Area to face such an action. Voters removed Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price from office in a November recall election. In 2022, voters in San Francisco County recalled DA Chesa Boudin.

“I would say it’s a copycat phenomenon,” Jonathan Simon, a professor of criminal justice law at UC Berkeley’s School of Law, wrote in an email exchange Wednesday. “The success of the San Francisco recall against Boudin has empowered some groups to mobilize against their local district attorneys. These are mainly affluent communities with access to resources and time to put into such campaigns and not the people in the community most affected by crime.”

The recall group said it also filed the notice of intent with the Contra Costa County Elections Office and that 103 of the 121 signatures on the initiative were validated. The minimum signatures required to go forward with such an action — allowing organizers to begin collecting signatures on petitions to place the recall on the ballot — is 100.

Becton has seven days to respond to the notice.

Once she does, the group would have to finalize the final petition language, according to the Contra Costa County Elections Office. Once that happens, the group would have 160 days to gather about 72,000 signatures — or 10% of the county’s population of registered voters — for the initiative to reach the ballot and an election to be held.

Garrick Percival, a political science professor at San Jose State, said such recall campaigns also have become emboldened by the relatively low bar it takes to begin and sustain the process.

“One of the things to keep in mind is just how easy it is to recall someone in California,” he said Wednesday. “In some states, you can’t do it all. In others, it’s a very low bar, including in California. Only 10% of registered voters in a district are needed just to start the process of getting the effort onto the ballot. It makes it easy to make the attempt.”

In explaining its action, the Recall Diana Becton group said it has lost faith in her.

“Her lack of transparency regarding crime in this county, and her attempts to keep her offenders out of jail, have left us disheartened,” the recall group wrote. The writers added that they are advocating for crime victims “who feel ignored, exasperated and hopeless in their pursuit of justice for themselves or their loved ones.”