LA County Sheriff’s Department Chief of Staff Tom Angel Resigns Over Racist and Anti-Muslim Email Controversy

Tom Angel, who is the chief of staff for LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, has just resigned his post, according to a statement released on Sunday afternoon by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

The resignation comes after news broke last week via the LA Times about racist, sexist, and anti-muslim emails Angel forwarded between 2012 and 2013 when he worked for the Burbank Police Department. Angel worked for the LASD for 33 years before retiring and taking a position as second in command at the Burbank PD. Then after Sheriff McDonnell took office in December 2014, he recruited Angel to be his right hand.

In the statement released Sunday, McDonell said the following:

“Very recently I learned that three to four years ago LASD Chief Tom Angel shared inappropriate and unprofessional e-mails with others, during his service as Burbank Police Department Assistant Chief. This incident is one that I find deeply troubling. Chief Angel has offered his resignation, and I have accepted it. I thank him for his many years of service, and wish him and his family well.

“Despite the Sheriff’s Department’s many recent efforts to fortify public trust and enhance internal and external accountability and transparency, this incident reminds us that we and other law enforcement agencies still have work to do. I intend to turn this situation into a learning opportunity for all LASD personnel.”

While Angel was reportedly well liked in the department, and the emails were sent several years ago when he was no longer with the LASD, many in and around the department expressed concern when news of the emails became public, and the sheriff said he did not plan to discipline Angel. Critics argued that, if a higher-up such as Angel was not in some significant way held responsible for forwarding email “jokes” on a work computer that were racist and derogatory about Muslims, it sent a problematic message to the rank-and-file and to the communities policed by the LASD, especially since this administration was elected with a reformist mandate.

Justice advocates expressed even stronger objections to the idea that Angel’s actions were being given what appeared to be a pass by the sheriff.

Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, wrote a letter late last week saying that the So Cal ACLU felt that “the only appropriate response is Angel’s resignation or dismissal.”

Like others, Villagra pointed to the fact that McDonnell ran for office “vowing to clean up a department plagued by decades of corruption, violence and impunity. He has pledged to seek out ‘the right people with the right moral compass in hiring, promotions, training, mentoring and supervising our people.’ Yet here, he has chosen to ignore behavior that is contrary to those goals…”

Advocates also found it disturbing that, as Villagra noted, “Angel’s attempt to apologize was couched in a denunciation of the Public Records Act. ‘I apologize if I offended anybody,’ he told the Los Angeles Times, ‘but the intent was not for the public to have seen these jokes.'”

For a person serving near to the top of a public agency not to understand that all of his or her workplace activity is rightly subject to public scrutiny was….startling.

In Sunday’s statement, McDonnell also said he would be “meeting with constituent groups throughout the county to share thoughts and ideas about improving our understanding of the varied cultures and orientations and deepening our appreciation of the many ethnicities and religions that are part of the vibrant fabric of the population we serve.”

He said the department would also assess existing policies and training to ensure “accountability” on such issues. McDonnell added that the department would implement a new system of random audits of the e-mail accounts of LASD personnel.

LA County Supervisor had this to say after the news broke about Angel’s resignation: “..While I support the deputy’s decision, there is still much work to be done. We must move forward and strive for a law enforcement work culture that values diversity and promotes tolerance.”