Alex Villanueva

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva Sworn In At Upbeat Community Celebration Amid Outbreaks of Concern and Lots of Hope

Celeste Fremon
Written by Celeste Fremon

“This entire county is at a crossroad,” said newly elected Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva after he was sworn in at midday on Monday, December 3.

“The people of Los Angeles County have decided they want a new vision for law enforcement in our communities.”

So it seems.  During what turned out to be a very savvy campaign, the long-shot candidate with no previous name recognition—and, in the beginning at least, very little money—persuaded enough voters that he had exactly the vision that the nation’s largest sheriff’s department now needed, and in so doing became the first person in more than a century to challenge a sitting LA County Sheriff, and win.

He was sworn in a week after the election was called.

When planning his public swearing-in ceremony, Villanueva, 55, didn’t choose the usual kind of formal county venue. Four years ago, for example, Sheriff Jim McDonnell was sworn in at the downtown Hall of Administration. Other official celebrations are often held at the county’s 1925 Hall of Justice, which reopened in 2014 after a long renovation.

Instead, using the event as a symbol of the new perspective he hopes to embody, the new sheriff chose the decidedly un-formal auditorium at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.

And for his opening musical act, he chose the Garfield High School marching band, which featured a lot of very enthusiastic young local horn players, and two tubas.

The nationally syndicated So Cal radio host, Big Boy, whose given name is Kurt Alexander, was the M.C. of the event, which felt more like a community party than a stately gathering of county higher-ups. Many of the event’s symbolic references pointed to East LA, and other communities on the east side of LA County, where Villanueva, with his Puerto Rican/Polish heritage, feels a strong connection.  Yet, the mood that the event created seemed designed to stand in for a celebration of all of LA County’s communities, particularly those that tend to feel the most at odds with local law enforcement.

The guest speaker list featured California state senator, Kevin de Leon, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, and at least three different religious figures who variously led invocations, prayers, and blessings.

“I am proud to share the stage with someone who had the courage to challenge the status quo,” de Leon told the crowd. “He will take the law enforcement playbook that doesn’t work and replace it.”


The many faces of reform

Throughout his speech Monday, Villanueva expanded on de Leon’s point, talking about the “challenge of reform,” his tone that of a football coach revving up his team before the game.

“If I say we’re going to reform this department, you should believe me!” Villanueva exhorted the crowd. He and his administration were going to “make changes to the culture of the department,” he said.

It was a promise Villanueva, 55,  made all throughout his dark horse campaign, as he  asked voters across the county—a large portion of them distinctly progressive-leaning voters—to take a chance on him, a retired LASD lieutenant with 32 years in the department, rather than the known quantity of incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell, who had headed, or been second in command of a total of three police agencies, including the LASD.

Yet, McDonnell—Villanueva told audience after audience during the campaign—failed to cleanse the department of those who participated in what a federal judge called in a “culture of lawlessness” that former undersheriff Paul Tanaka,” and his boss, former sheriff Lee Baca, had “allowed to fester.”

(Tanaka is now serving a five-year sentence in a federal prison, while Baca’s three-year prison sentence is still on appeal.)

“We are going to go back to being peace officers…” Villanueva told Monday’s crowd, then repeated the message in a tweet on Tuesday, adding that he and the 18,000 person agency he now leads will be “judged by how well we protect our communities.”

At the swearing-in, he also made a point of reaching out to immigrant residents who, he said, “shouldn’t have to worry about” whether the department will  “protect” or “deport” them.

“This office belongs to you,” Villanueva pledged to the people of LA County.  “This department belongs to you.”


A bad case of the jitters

Villanueva’s inclusive message was greeted by visible enthusiasm among many of those in the college auditorium on Monday.

Yet, ever since he was officially declared the winner a week ago, beating Jim McDonnell by 125,878 votes, the new sheriff’s lightning strike victory was greeted by reactions that ranged from giddy expressions of  happiness and hope among his most ardent supporters, many of them among the department’s rank and file, to declarations of serious “concern” among other county stakeholders.

For instance, there was the suggestion that Villanueva might reissue the heavy flashlights that deputies working in the county’s jail system once used, but that were prohibited in the fall of 2012 and replaced by small, tactical flashlights, after several civil lawsuits, ACLU reports, and the scathing report by Citizen’s Commission on Jail Violence, indicated that the larger lights were too often used in “force incidents” as “impact weapons.”

Similarly, Villanueva’s off-with-their heads-style termination of the majority of Jim McDonnell’s command staff, including his two constitutional policing advisors, Diana Teran and Sergio Perez, both of whom will move to the office of Inspector General Max Huntsman, is being viewed as troubling.

It is not that anyone denies Villanueva the right to bring in his own people. It is the suggestion that the civilian constitutional advisors, which have become a crucial best practices feature of most of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies, would not be replaced, or would be replaced in a weaker form, that is calling red flags to be raised.

“We have been getting a lot of cooperation from the department’s leadership under McDonnell,” Patti Giggans, chair of the Civilian Oversight Commission (COC), told WitnessLA on Sunday night. “We hope this will continue with whoever is going to be there now,” she said. “But we don’t know who’s going to be there. And so there’s some anxiety.”

Her worry was echoed by others who expressed the hope that the existing trend toward reform will not be, in any way, derailed.


The shadow of ink

The question of who will be on Villanueva’s command staff list has been a focus for many of the rank and file, along with department retirees, as well as for the county’s progressive leaders.

Thus far, Villanueva’s top picks have largely been greeted with enthusiasm and relief. This includes retired LASD commander Ray Leyva, who is the new sheriff’s pick as his second in command, the undersheriff.

When Villanueva announced the rest of his top-level command staff on Monday, perhaps the loudest applause went retired commander Robert Olmsted, who will be Villanueva’s assistant sheriff in charge of custody. Tim Murakami, who will be jumping from the position of Captain of the department’s Industry station, to assistant sheriff over patrol, is another who is widely well regarded.

The appointment of Chief Maria Gutierrez as the third assistant chief, making her the department’s highest-ranking woman, has also been greeted with lots of enthusiasm.

Furthermore, all four seem to welcome the challenge.

Yet there have been other names on Villanueva’s earlier command staff lists, who were greeted with far less enthusiasm when a few of their names also turned up on former undersheriff Paul Tanaka’s political donations list, meaning they had given money to one or more of Tanaka’s various campaigns for mayor of the city of Gardena, ostensibly as part of a pay-to-play patronage scheme, which the once feared  “shadow sheriff” was known for.

(WitnessLA reported on this issue extensively, as you’ll find here. But please note that inclusion on this list does not mean someone gave money to Tanaka unless a dollar number is indicated next to his or her name. And having given money does not automatically mean someone was close to the former undersheriff. Plenty of people were threatened into donating.)

It was cause for further consternation when some of the names floated for promotions during the pre-swearing in week were also people who are rumored to have ankle tattoos signifying membership in one of the older deputy gangs like the Vikings, the Regulators, or the Grim Reapers. In one person’s case, the matter of a Viking tattoo was reportedly confirmed—although that person appears to no longer on the newest command staff list.

Of course, still sporting the tattoo of a deputy gang insignia, which was acquired decades ago, may not be at all indicative of one’s policing ethic now—or ever. Yet, given that the deputy gang problem is far from handled in the department, as one department watcher put it, “It sends a problematic message.”

Nevertheless, by the close of Monday’s swearing-in celebration, heartened by Villanueva’s reformist statements, and also encouraged by his picks for those at the top of the department’s new food chain, for many the worries had at least lessened.

Look,” said Villanueva’s spokesman to us on Monday night, “he’s not getting rid of oversight, and he’s taking a strong look at all these positions.”

In other words, chill and give the new sheriff a chance to institute the reforms he’s promised.

Civil rights attorney, Brad Gage agrees.  “I think that Alex will be a breath of fresh air and has innovative ideas to help protect the citizens of the county,” said Gage, who went to the swearing in.

Peter Eliasberg of the Southern California ACLU agreed, at least in part.

“There are things I like a lot and there are things that concern me,” he said, and brought up the constitutional policing advisor issue as a source of concern.

On the other hand,  Eliasberg continued, “he has said he thinks there are too many people in the jails, and I agree with him strongly on that. So I’m hopeful he will be proactive on those kind of issues….”

We will all know much more as Sheriff Villanueva’s first days, weeks and months unfold.

In the meantime, a great many people inside and outside the department are rooting for him to succeed.


Post script

Be sure to read Maya Lau’s excellent story in the LA Times about how the Sheriff Villanueva’s victory in the race for sheriff is part of a decades-long fight for reform in the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

293 Comments

  • Getting rid of Tanaka leg humpers is an awesome goal. So why is one being promoted from captain to chief and another being allowed to stay on as a chief? You either do it or you don’t. Halfway is another invitation for controversy.

  • Exactly. Playing bs games already. The sad part is the person with “Viking” ink was his best pick to be a leader, and was not a Tanaka butt boy like the new chief of staff.

  • To JUST BECAUSE. How sad i feel so sorry for your emotion a “HUMILIATION” for one workday. Consider the pain humiliation and financial hardship we that were wrongfully terminated while you slept quietly in the Ivory Tower of corruption. You were obviously bought and paid for. As a believer in JESUS CHRIST i will pray for you. But i hope you understand the reality of the sufferings my brothers and sisters have indured as well as our children and families. Your pathetic hours of discomfort pale in comparison to my fellow Deputies who lost their homes, wives,husbands and family.

  • Excuse me why I pour another drink. Attended the most surreal meeting I have ever had in my career. The emperor said we had no brass. All ordered to take off rank as he said there is one Sheriff and your all deputies.

    He gave guidelines if you want to make Captain. This from a guy who was about to make a Lt into an A/S until Bob and Ray throttled him this weekend.

    No one still knows who thier Chiefs are.

    He even called out a well respected Commander a few times asking him when he is retiring. There goes an age discrimination suit.

    He was telling people they have to demote to gain his guidelines to promote by working Custody or a WC spot etc. AV, if it is not from DHR on the bulletin it doesn’t disqualify. Of course you could keep those requirements secret and judge on that but you aren’t that smart.

    Afterwords I heard many many people talking litigation and lawsuits. For every Million paid out that will be 6 less deps on the street. My god he will bankrupt the Department.

    Bob and Ray, you have street Cred. But the longer you go along with this insane management you will lose all your reputation.

  • I was hired under Sheriff Sherman Block and Sheriff Villanueva is restoring the old core and requirements of our great Department. We were once know as the Marine Corps of Law Enforcement and our current Sheriff remains true in keeping his word in an unprecedented manner. The requirements he instituted were consistent with that in our era. This is what made us thethe well respected Department that we once were. To all of those who don’t understand this STAND DOWN and listen. This Organization will return to greatness under our current Sheriff Villanueva. Leaders cannot lead without experience and a house with no foundation can stand the test of time.

  • Celeste, before you declare Diana Terán a hero, you should research her work. She violated many deputies’ constitutional rights in trying to get them convicted only to be told by the judíciary, she could not do that. Why don’t you do a little research before you start slinging rocks at Villanueva? Interesting you were not concerned when McDonnell was axing left and right little deputies with no rank for political reasons….we al know you are biased and your blog is by no means an objective news source. You lovesd McDonnell brutality against little deputies but come on, make it less obvious….

  • Come on dude, we all know there is only one sheriff and all including you are a deputy. Look at your badge it says in plain English deputy sheriff ….now you know how it feels

  • Editor’s Note:

    Dear NoBuckles,

    Nowhere in this story, or anywhere else, do we take a side on Diana Terán or anyone Sheriff Villanueva has removed. He has every right to bring in his own team, and terminate any of the “at will” employees. We are rooting for him, and his new command staff, to succeed. We are, however, pointing out the very reasonable worries that some have about the suggestion that he will remove the position altogether.

    That does not constitute “slinging rocks.” Our new sheriff has taken on an enormous challenge, which he would be the first to admit. We would not be doing our jobs if the only feedback we offered him, and our readers, is unadulterated praise and fluff.

    C.

  • C: Fifth paragraph you used the word his twice.

    All this commotion re people coming in and people going out was hypocritical. Why wasn’t there any concern about the tats that are leaving and why no concern while they were there? The problem was and continues to be what did they have to do in order to get in? As an act of re-commitment to their Oath of Office all these guys should have the tats removed and then maybe I’ll believe they may have changed. I felt assured, from Sheriff Villanueva’s comments that if these people don’t do their jobs he’ll fire them. The Sheriff has proven he has no problem with firing anyone.

    As far as donating, many years ago I saw Tanaka at a charity fundraiser. Tanaka asked me for twenty bucks. Like most deps. I didn’t have that kind of cash on me and I wrote a check. Later I ended up on the donor list. Next time I was far more careful when I dealt with the snake. Unlike Baca who ordered all the capts. and above to all donate 1k a piece. That time I made no such donation. True Stonich and Waldie kept names. Now, aren’t we all happy that those two are gone??

    The original intent of these so-called constitutional lawyers was perverted by Baca and McD as political stunts. And I know this as fact! Sadly, the county had to retain Teran and Sanchez and moved them to Huntsman. A word of caution to Sheriff Villanueva. Be professional, never tell them anything and know that if they can make you look bad(regardless of truth or lies) they will do it. Huntsman must realize that their (Teran and Sanchez) bitterness will cause him harm and to the commission’s integrity. Too much conflict of interest for these two to remain in the loop.

    Last, Teran’s job was not to make it personal nor was it for vengeance. But, she did both. If the sheriff conducts an internal investigation into her actions don’t be surprised that we find another Peter Strozk and Lisa Paige, where agents went off the rails.

  • My first trainee eventually retired as an assistant sheriff. He was one of the best street cops I ever knew and he “had it” by his second year in patrol. Some of us didn’t need four years. Maybe Villanaka did. Everyone should not be judged by his impotence.

  • I see nothing wrong here. It’s called accountability. Something supervisors have been doing to DEPUTIES for decades.

    I’m sure your name wasn’t on the candidate list.

  • @Shocked good for your trainee, but how many deputies have you seen that have like that. There are obviously some shining stars, but we all know unfortunately there are more zeroes then stars. So why not push a car a little longer.

  • Daniel, you sound angry. That’s fine and probably justified. But just because someone somewhere wronged you, is it appropriate to stick your finger in the eye of every supervisor on the department? There are tons of stand-up people in the managment ranks. Why lump them all together? Retribution? Retaliation? Revenge? What does your Lord teach you about that?

  • I agree with you, I was ready in two months. After two months I did not need a stinky TO, it does not mean I was ready to be a division chief . When I signed up to be a deputy sheriff I envisioned driving a black and white serving my community not to be sitting in an office at the Hall of Justive judging real street deputies. I did more than 10!years working the field, because of that, I would make it mandatory for any deputy above the rank of sergeant to have served their community in a black and white for 10 years before being considered for promotion . You know most keg jumpers hate to work the radio car serving the community, it requires skill and lots of patience….and if you signed up to be a secretary in an office shame on you….

  • Nothing wrong with pushing a radio car a little longer. But if the idea here is to judge a person on their merits, then don’t use absolute timelines.

  • If your a standup guy “Getagrip” then my question to you is what did you do to stand up to the corruption of Baca/Tanaka or Teran/McDonnell. I’m wondering if your leadership skills consists of keeping your mouth shut and hopefully someone would notice you. Be a leader and put your real name behind your comment because the days of being a coward are over. Otherwise stop hiding behind a keyboard and become a leader.

  • AV is biting into a cookie so big, that he’ll never be able to chew, and swallow it. Attempting to remake the entire department from the rank of LT. and above indicates that he fosters so much bitterness, and resentment that he’ll likely stroke out before he completes his first term.

  • I understand what Alex is trying to accomplish. But taking away eveyone’s rank insignia just doesn’t make sense. Is he punishing everyone for the misdeeds of a few? Did he learn this in the military? While it is very funny, the joke is on us because already other agencies and contract cities are laughing. Who would join the LASD now? Not to mention while I would love to demote back to deputy, because it is the best job on the department, who will fill my shoes. There is some expertise to the admin world that Leyva and Olmstead need to educate Alex on. I’m sure the deputies love the show, but Alex is creating a lot of enemies with the brass. Shouldn’t he be trying to bring us all together? None of this makes sense and we should all be embarrassed by these hostile juvenile actions.

  • And yet all of the individuals who’s rank has been removed must remain silent and avoid voicing their discontent so as not to damage their future prospects for advancement.

    Checkmate.

  • What Alex is doing, is what he said he would do. Tear the entitled corrupted hierarchy down to the studs, and rebuild. Just like in the academy, they tear us down and build us back up. There are many incompetent supervisors who allowed the violation of deputies’ constitutional rights for political reasons. Yes, they all deserve demotion for not living up to the core values, for not following the US constitutional mandates and for destroying little deputies lives to advance their career. If these supervisors were unable to defend their fellow deputies, how can they defend the community at large? They just cared about their next deputy stat to advance their career and make it to the air conditioned offices at Hall of Justice…..

  • As far as making enemies, don’t worry about that, as long as Alex follows the US constitution he will be fine, I know he will….so enemies can run for sheriff in four years….

  • Mandatory 10 years in a radio car to go on to another level or position in LASD is ludicrous, you can’t be serious. It appears that you’ve bought into the hype of what a true cop should be by truly not knowing as indicated by your post.

  • “No where in the story do we take a side of Diana Teran or any one else”. But of course witness la uses the common journalistic weasel tactic of attributing “concerns”, and “red flags” to the always present “some say” or “others close to”. Mr Nobuckles is of course right on the money.

    Celeste finds herself in a bit of a conundrum here,on one hand she is a true believer in the likes of the aclu, the civilian oversight commission, constitutional policing units, and the social justice hacks who staff them. On the other hand, the new Sheriff has a kinda sorta non white last name and the support of a lot of people of color. It would be pretty bad optics for Witness la to come out overtly hostile to the new Sheriff, while openly supporting the old super white old Sheriff.

    Make no mistake ,Witness la is not happy. Mr Villanueva is looking far too pro deputy for Celeste’s liking, the only thing holding her back is his position within the community of color. Bit of an impass, so for now, we’re treated to some more hand wringing and tut- tuting about tattoos.

  • Yes, it is what I would do if I was the sheriff, 10 years serving the community in a radio car before promoting to sergeant and above, no worries, lucky for you, I am not. If you did not sign up to be a street cop, what did you sign up for???? I think it is a valid question, why are you so afraid of answering those pesky calls, 415F, 273.5R, SCAR, 415E, 288R, 261R, 422R, 459R, 530.5R they are a pain aren’t they? Yet, those calls are what affects the community, and there is the opportunity to connect with them, and help them with their problems.

    It is then when you earn your money….I would like to see all the demoted executives placed in a black and white answering those calls, it would be highly entertaining…

  • You are comical, you are describing yourself…go suit up, jump in a black and white and serve your community, connect with them ask them how you can serve them instead of throwing rocks at Alex…

  • Bow down and kiss the ring you peasants for I am the SHERIFF. There is only one, and I am it. I will let you know if you are worthy of holding the rank of sergeant or lieutenant, despite the fact that you took a test, passed, and were promoted. If I grace you with that privilege, as my standards are much higher, you may be able to serve as a captain in my beloved department as long as you do everything I say, for I am king. I stand before you with a cock ring of stars on my collar, all of you must remove your adornment whether it be upon your collar or sleeve and solute me, for I am KING.

    WTF – I say again WTF.

    Nobody heard of this ass clown before, now he thinks he can do whatever he wants. For those still working, SORRY. I really hope and pray he does not run the department into the ground. Great, he wants all new hires to have a BA degree. We couldn’t hire enough to cover attrition as it stands. Oh, this will make all the difference in the world. I know lots of deputies with a master degree, guess what, still can’t find their way our of an open bag.

    I just LOVE this entertainment. This should be on Netflix, live feed of the inner workings of the largest sheriff’s department. Make it a comedy because that’s what it is.

  • On the custody side, I’ve heard from several folks who are (or were??) “privileged” enough to Grace the “coveted 8th” floor spots, make comments expressing their clear distinction between “operations” and “line staff”. They sit in positions on high, judge and critique their fellow “deputies and CA’s” and avoid working line spots like the plague. And if they do work line spots, have requirements to limit their exposure to harm. I can even recall a young deputy saying his goal was to promote and work an adminustrative spot….really? Is this this right? Does something need to be done, even if it is symbolic? Hell yes.

    Perhaps the Sheriff’s Department should adopt a structure that not only differentiates custody from patrol but outlines a promotion path for “line staff” and “sworn/CA administrative staff”.

    When you become so far removed from the core of your business/organization and the concerns of your most important asset…..the line worker, a “re-grounding” and focus on the fundamentals is in order. I think this is what Sheriff Villaneuva is trying to accomplish. Just as the Department typically does global, broadcast, collective, sweeping across the board “spankings” when one person messes up, so shall ALL the executive ranks feel a little heat for the mistakes and misteps of a few.

  • Another successful SpaceX launch. Some of the folks around here (old upper management) should be included in the payload.

  • Spot on sir/mam. I am a custody supervisor. Line staff gets piss and s$$t thrown at them weekly. Those 8th floor kids can foolthemselves that they have done their time on the line but they will all be exposed.

  • Being retired, I was unfortunately not invited to the yesterday’s meeting. Otherwise I would have loved to have been there. But I did the next best thing and talked who were there and I think I can picture my reaction to what was said. First, I would have been happy to have an LASD leader again……………especially one not named Leroy Baca. But from what I heard I think I my overall feelings would have probably been termed “conflicted”.

    I would not have been happy to see the Sheriff call out some of my colleagues individually. It would not have mattered if I liked the individuals or not, that should have been done behind closed doors. I also would have cringed at the hypocrisy of a guy who was a Lieutenant a year or so ago to come on as strong as he did. How about a hint of humbleness. It was only through some strange twist of fate that he was standing there addressing that group as their leader. Did he “earn” it? Depends on who you ask. What does it take to “earn” the position of Sheriff? Beats me, but there were a LOT of people in that room who HAVE worked hard, paid their dues and did earn their positions. From what I heard, there was not much sentiment acknowledging that fact it could have gone a long way of gaining support.

    On the other hand, as far as telling the group that there were individuals who had not paid their dues, I would have silently applauded and shared the sentiment. The truth hurts. It would not have applied to me and a number of my peers, so let those who have been gaining rank through other ways feel the heat. Everyone in the room knew who they are and knew exactly what they have done, or more to the point, what they have not done in their careers to gain rank. If those folks got offended, too bad The rest of (us) who have done what we thought was expected of us in our careers for promotion have felt offended each time non-deservers have been promoted for reasons other than ability and/or experience. For once the shoe was on the other foot and it would have felt good.

    But then, the conflicted feelings would have been there as I would have looked around and seen people in that room who the Sheriff is promoting who are skipping ranks. In some cases, many ranks. They must have felt strange. I would have, just like they certainly will feel strange being over people who were their superiors for years. And more importantly, these people will have vastly more knowledge and experience than them when they actually try to lead them. This is going to create some very challenging leadership situations where the “leaders” need to learn a lot from those they are leading than is normally the case. Just as is the case with the new Sheriff, who has a LOT to learn about the Department that goes way beyond his experiences. That is why I think it would have been wise for Sheriff Villanueva to have been somewhat humble in his first address to his management team, a team that must teach him the ins and outs of the LASD administrative functions.

    As far as taking off the insignia of rank and people being upset about that, I see the complainers as those who have self-doubts about their abilities as leaders. They should be leading because they are, in fact, leaders and not because they wear some tin on their collar. I would imagine there are units/shifts today where the troops are not even affected by their leader’s the lack of lapel adornment. That is because those units/shifts are being properly lead. (I would also guess there is a good amount of joking with the “brass”) And, no doubt, there are other units/shifts where the troops are snickering that the brass don’t have any balls between their legs as well as not having on their collars. Those units/shifts are not being run by leaders, they are being run by people who have not stepped up and accepted the responsibility of leadership. (and there are few jokes shared those “leaders”) IMHO, the lack of leadership is often the result of the individual not being properly prepared or experienced for the position the are fulfilling. (and let’s face it, sometimes the person is just a jerk who couldn’t lead a stallion to a mare in heat) Perhaps Sheriff V’s desire to inject experience as a criteria in the promotion process will help solve this issue.

    Also, I read about talk about people threatening to file suit for this or that. Just STFU! That kind of talk sounds like a bunch of snowflakes looking for a safe zone. (Or maybe they already have one at S.T.A.R.S. that those people have not heard about) Give Sheriff Villanueva a chance and see how this all works out. He may be totally off track, off track in some areas, or in other areas he may have the right idea, but it will need work to make it work. Personally I like a lot of his ideas – if they can be worked out. BUT the guy has been in office for less than a week. After 20 years of blind man’s bluff, we surly can wait for 6 months, a year, to see how it is going before we throw out the baby with the bath water. Let’s withhold our judgement until we have something to base it on.

    Finally, For @ All Is Lost. Surreal? Dude/Dudette, you must have never sat through a Baca meeting. Any Baca meeting. Don’t bring up surreal without Baca being the headliner. Yesterday’s meeting sounded totally S.A.N.E. (pun intended) compared to your average Baca snoreathon. Or did I miss that Alex talked about the meaning of creation or some other Baca-like topic? Otherwise, this meeting, although unprecedented, was in the wacko minor leagues.

  • Suit up? Bro, I’ve been there, and done that!

    10YRS total in a car.

    7 Station DB

    Going on 5 as a B2……suit up? Really?

  • You are all a bunch of grumpy, bitter and angry people. Go flip burgers at McDonalds and see how quickly you’ll be grateful for the money you make to be grumpy, bitter and angry!

  • Sounds to me like you are all blaming others for your failures, and your inability to accomplish what it took to promote, or get a job you wanted. But don’t feel bad it’s quite common for insecure people to blame others for their own inadequacies!

  • Perhaps AV should look at where the problems really are. Upper management with ZERO experience, and the crying line staff of deputies. Yes some sergeants and lieutenants are AH and have no business in their current role. First line supervisors are the ones who spread the word of above down to the troops. Having been in those roles as a supervisors, he should address the percentage of deputies who take all of supervisory time policing them.

    When the zeros get a competent eval, they file a grievance and complain saying, I should be OUTSTANDING. I answer my calls for service despite the fact that they don’t make one observation arrest during their rating period. What happens, they call ALADS. The captain finally agrees to change their rating to VERY GOOD. More, performance statistics had to be removed from evaluations. As long as the employee answers their calls for service they are great employees. For the lazy ones who call in sick all the time, can’t put that in their eval either. Hard working deputy sheriff’s who take the tough assignments, go above and beyond the call of duty, make numerous arrest, hardly get recognized. Sergeants and lieutenants must spend their time baby sitting the week POS’s. Upper management refuses to transfer them, refuses to call them as they are (improvement needed employees, etc). Now the new boss takes his frustrations out by setting unreal expectations for the only rank that deals with the line directly. Fantastic. Again, Captains and above have one set of rules, sergeants and lieutenants will be held to a new standard, and deputies gain the upper hand. Tanaka gave the power to the deputies and had captains, sergeants, lieutenants transferred at will. He even gave the station shot callers his phone number. Put the needle on the record because here we go again.

  • @ about Time. You are correct about the “privileged” on the 8th floor and those that have been moved from the 8th floor to be hidden away in some type of coveted position at another facility. Hopefully Olmsted will quicky see that Cronyism is alive and well. It is time that the nonsense of the past executives be put to rest. Those current executives that are still playing the games better wake up, Karma is here.

  • I watched the Sheriff’s Election from afar and what came to mind was the Presidential election. Many citizens whom voted for President Trump did so not because he was the most experienced but instead because he was the lesser of two evils. Believe me I was not a fan of McDonnel and how he brought the LAPD philosophies into the LASD organization, especially the “lie you die mentality!”. He and his team of executives, known as the top five, could care less about morale of the rank and file or the Department as a whole. They could care less they ruined the lives, families, and careers of some very good employees. I had to laugh each time I heard McD say morale was great to the local media and LATimes. What a complete fabrication of the truth.

    You have to give Alex credit in that he was able to win the Sheriff’s Election. I admit I voted for him since I felt a change was needed. Three days into his term of office I have to ask myself WTF was I thinking? It’s obvious he does not care about the Department as a whole but instead he came back holding grudges and vendettas against anyone he feels shunned him in his 32 year career. I will give him credit in that he is a smart man unfortunately he is smarter than all of us combined. Ray Leyva and Bob Olmsted will not be able to control him. He will do it his way, it’s my way or the highway mentality.

    Let us look at a couple of things that have occurred in his few days;

    He upset the Board of Supervisors by refusing to play nice in the sandbox. He shunned them by holding his swearing in ceremony at ELAC because four of the supervosrs endorsed McD. Supervisor Hahn made it clear, they sign the checks or they can refuse to sign them. The look on Supervisor Solis’ face says it all.

    He ran on a promise that every deputy will be treated fairly and as equals. Well he managed to upset deputies across the county by sectioning off seats for ELA station deputies at his swearing in ceremony. I guess ELA deputies are better than other deputies across this county. What is even more funny is he acts like he was a well respected ELA deputy during his tenure at the station which could not be furthest from the truth. He was despised and Deputies would constantly write negative comments about him in the breifing room or bathroom urinals. He wanted to fit in but he was an outcast.

    During his speech yesterday with supervisors he embarrassed Commander Jack Ewell one the most highly decorated members of the Department. He also swore that he would only promote those who have earned and deserved a promotion. So let me get this straight AS Maria Gutierrez fits that mold? Throughout her career everyone knows she has been a mediocre employee at best that cannot make a decision, even if her life depended on it. She also camapigned for McD as evident by her yard signs inside her car. He also feels Lujunna Haselrig is such a person. Is this the same woman who should have been fired for assaulting a recruit with his own briefcase during her tenure at AOT. I will not mention her discipline record, but did she not recently get suspended for over five days which should prevent her from promoting by Department policy? I guess you will overlook this even though you swore cronyism will not be tolerated under your tenure.

    I can add additional information but I will hold some in reserve for a future day. I guess now karma has set in because many of us will now be Laughing At The Big Guy!! How does it feel Alex?

  • I testified at a trial or two you might have heard about. I also testified in front of the CCJV. Is that “stand-up” enough for you? If not, then you need to get a grip as well.

  • @Justiceforall
    Could not agree more. I was a staunch Mcdonnell hater but Villanueva is already starting off on the wrong foot. Why is that various stations in the county had to send units to cover calls for service and handle ELA patrol area so that all of ELA could attend the swearing in. So we took services away from certain areas so one station could go watch you. What happened to him saying “It’s what you do and treat the community right”…..ahhh, so short certain area services so ELA can watch you. Lame.

    As far as Commander Ewell is concerned, I don’t know what was said to him but I have known him for a long time. He is as stand up as they come, with a history of real military service. Not 1 year in the Air force and then off to air national guard reserves.

    Also, how do you say you are gonna rid the department of “Tanaka cronies”. He said that over, and over and over, yet keeps Del Mese as his Chief of Staff. I don’t care that Del Mese doesn’t like Tanaka now, how bout when Tanaka was leveling people? Del Mese was right there. I don’t have an axe to grind with Del Mese but man, talk about fence hoppers.

    I want to see the sheriff succeed. I voted for him. I hope this is just the kinks getting worked out and we can all move forward in a positive direction.

  • How does all of these vendettas with current managers and the perception of unrestrained deputies who no longer have to respect their supervisors help the citizens we serve. I’ve had good and bad bosses throughout my career and I became a better employee by learning from each of them. Of course, as a deputy I respected them all equally. You show respect for the rank not the person behind the bars or stars. Pretty basic principles that keep our organization moving forward and giving the public what they deserve. The demeaning of all our supervisors and executives is callous and does nothing to further our true mission.

  • Yes, save them for later for continued laughter. He did single out Jack Ewell. Is he going to send the Jack back to patrol to get his w/c ticket punched? Apparently today he graced custody with his presence and walked some of the facilities. His arrogance permeated past the jail stench as he looked down his nose telling deputies patrol is the place to be, admin and DB doesn’t count, nice message for a leader of all. And yes, his nemesis claimed Lennox, today it’s ELA. Another executive with his favorites. Again, he’s not the Sheriff of all, only of some.

  • I want this department to get back to what it once was. There are going to be some unpopular decisions that are made, my hope is that his decisions are not fueled by some scorched earth mentality. It’s too early in the game. We did elect him to make the tough decisions. It does look like he is moving the department toward a patrol mindset, once again. Train, mentor young deps, enough with the silly games at patrol, stop ruining people’s livelihoods and we will get back on track.

  • Wow these cry baby supervisors are out of control. Where were you when the McDonnell/Terán regime was fabricating cases left and right against little deputies??? Those little deputies lost it all. Alex is now equalizing the playing field and that makes him a horrible person??? All of you cry babies still have a job and the same paycheck, quit whining….watch your back Alex, the political class, the biased media and the demoted corrupt supervisors are not happy they lost, they will be looking at every chance they get to throw rocks at you or worse….you are on the right path Alex, take care of your little deputies, and they will take care of the community…..

  • I retired over five years ago from the LASD…I was lucky enough to have obtained a command level promotion..And, I am most proud that I was able to do that without being anyone’s “crony” especially a Tanaka “coin holder”. Did the custody time..many years as a patrol dep..field supervisor, gang enforcement supervisor, W/C etc. And was privileged to have been assigned to the Special Enforcement Bureau for some time.

    Admittedly, I was as shocked as many others were to learn that Alex V would be elected Sheriff. Did not really know McDonnell either and never worked for him. Nevertheless, I was willing to keep an open mind and give the new Sheriff a chance to prove himself. I was especially pleased to hear that he promised to rid the Dept. of the remaining “coin holders” and to stop this cronyism.

    The next thing I know, he announces his new incoming command staff which included less than qualified or not qualified at all people who would become his executive command staff. Then, some decisions which seemed even loonier (if that’s a word) than the Baca ism’s.

    The meeting with supervisory and management staff where he asked them to remove their rank insignia..WTF…and finally, publicly ridiculing one of the most respected people on the Dept., Jack Ewell, suggesting it was time for his retirement ?
    Big mistake !

    What first seemed like maybe a breath of fresh air for the Dept. has suddenly turned into what appears to be a disaster in the making! Unless the new Sheriff starts listening to the advice of some experienced and respected leaders, he will become the biggest failure in the history of our great Department !

  • The suspension doesn’t really matter, since she can’t be promoted without actually being in an eligible band. Even for captain, you have to be in a band where your reachable. No appointments at that rank like there can be for chief, where anything goes. Civil service still controls, so no promotion is valid until she gets into an approved band for captain.

  • Arrogance? Alex is one of the most Intelligent and humble men I’ve ever known. I believe you’re confusing confidence with arrogance. A secure supervisor would accept and adapt to the new regimes method.

  • MAKE LASD GREAT AGAIN
    1) Remove the Tyrany at the top
    2) End Dual Track
    3) End Coveted Testing
    4) Create a genuine AP for promotion!

  • As far as I know, he made them write autobiographies and such. I think what he is doing, is trying to find out who is qualified for those positions. I think of it as an aptitude test. Remember, he wants to do away with cronyism. This is a great way. If you haven’t done anything wrong, Alex is on your side.

  • That sounds about 100% accurate and hits too close to home. Many people who were discharged from the department over the last four years have had cases built on lies and misinformation. Information that was used to the demise of good hard working low ranking deputies. Those deputies lost their jobs, homes, and families and I am sure contemplated losing their lives as a result of MCD and his political gain of terror during his term in office. Now Villanueva comes in and doing what he sees fit and these supervisors upper management folks are complaining and hurt is a joke. They still have their jobs and are still making the same pay the only difference now is they will be the ones who will be looked at to determine if they are really deserving of their positions. LASD is and has always been Paramilitary. Many forgot that fact and came into the profession with the idea of it being a corporation with personal finance to obtain. That’s not being a Real cop nor is it being a community leader. I’m happy to see and hear that things are being turned around and I feel it’s for the better.

  • The department has changed since you’ve retired. Change was needed . The days of the status-quo are long gone. Reform of a obviously broken system was 100% needed. So a LT gets his bars removed ? So what!? Do bars make a persons a better leader? No they don’t. We all need to be humbled time to time

  • First off, he is sheriff. Meaning he gets to make decision concerning personnel, training, and every other aspect of this department. For the past years, we’ve had low morale, and a lot of wrongful terminations. As far as your concerns, instead of waiting for a demise of the department and Alex Villanueva, why don’t you write a memo reflecting your concerns, and wait for a response. Alex is not the person you put him out to be. Trust me.

  • Couldn’t agree with you more. I honestly think all of the people commenting negatively of our new sheriff are either disgruntled McD fans who didn’t get what they were promised, or just trolls. Haven’t even given him a chance and already slinging mud.

  • @sidelines And you had no problem bowing down to the Irish Fuhrer?? That man took a wrecking ball to the honor and traditions of our department and turned brother against brother. His lack of management is exactly why Alex got elected! And here you are proving the case for Alex when he speaks of entitlement among our ranks!! Leadership is a privilege and should be regarded as an honor. Those of us who have that honor bestowed upon us and are righteous have nothing to fear from the new administration.

    And as much as I hate to have to be the one to break the news to you, there IS one sheriff. All the rest of us (myself included) wear a badge that reads “Deputy Sheriff.”

  • You do realize he was paying homage to East LA in general, don’t you? He literally said it at the beginning. Literally why he chose ELAC. If you are a hard-working deputy you should be recognized, don’t feel left out. You aren’t.

  • It’s not a vendetta. It’s an exercise in humility. It’s impressing upon all deputy sheriffs regardless of rank that they will all be held accountable for their actions. It’s what the ex-sheriff preached but never achieved- true accountability. He promoted a bunch of couldnots who don’t merit any respect beyond respect for the rank.

    The lesson you’re failing to see is that the public SHOULD be able to respect the person behind the rank. By holding managers and supervisors accountable, it shows the line staff (the unrestrained deputies as you call them) that nobody is above the law and we will all be required to earn our keep.

    As a member of the affected class, I applaud this effort on the part of our new sheriff to restore the department to our former glory and beyond. A true leader doesn’t need bars to lead. I am still the same man with or without bars, stripes, or stars.

    As a taxpaying citizen of Los Angeles County, I applaud MY new sheriff’s effort to reel in the runaway bureaucracy that was created under the last regime.

    As a resident of a Sheriff’s area, I applaud the sheriff’s efforts to make my community (where I reside with my wife and kids) a better, safer place to live.

    To the bellyachers and crybabies among my peers, superiors, and subordinates I say this: The train is coming, so get on board or get off, but for damned sure, get off the tracks.

  • Rank and Insignias do not make you a better person than an average Line Deputy, under Alex you will now have to prove you are a worker.

    Having zero or little patrol experiance and moving up to a special unit,Rank or comfy position, when you know damn well you did not serve the community long enough in patrol no longer exempts you from making crucial Line Deputy work. You are now being humbled to do the job of a Deputy Sheriff. The job does not care for Rank. To the “Brass” Do the job just like many other Deputies, and if there is scrutiny from your work or lack there of well deal with it, you are a deputy Sheriff.

    If youve criticized other Deputies work from the comfort of your own office and Coffee cup on hand, you will now be on the receiving end, why? Because being a Deputy Sheriff requires split second decision making and not all the time is the job pretty.

    Somewhere along the lines the Supervisory Staff “Brass” lost touch with Deputy Sheriff Line of work, how I see it is that Villanueva is now making you work, don’t like it? There is always an exit.

  • Good advice from who? According to who? I’m tired of reading these comments. A lot gurus on here that believe they have all the answers. I haven’t heard any Deputies or line staff bitching, so that tells me something.

    I’ve been on briefings and I’m sure many of you have been here a supervisor calls people out or put someone in the spot. I’ve also heard of TO’s demoted and asked to remove stripes. Because you are lieutenant and above should it be different?

    I agree it may not have been my tactic, but I’ve seen worse with deputies and in the Corps.

    Especially when the man has only been on 4 days!

    As far a Ewell I’ve only heard good things but then again he was at SEB n took care of them, so I imagine the force behind him is strong, considering the make up of SEB And it’s alumni.

  • The planned overhaul as mentioned above flies in the face of what the SJW crowd sees as “fair, and equitable.”

    Inclusivity, and diversity cannot thrive under the old promotion system. That will be unacceptable to the liberal progressive political class that AV signed on with to help him win the election.

    I’m looking for deals on Amazon for popcorn now. It’s gonna be an interesting 4 years!!!

  • Code 1M: Good Post. I have some very good friends on SEB and I think their skills are amazing. I could also care less what they think about anything in regards to how the department is run. They have separated themselves from the rest of the department for the 30 years I’ve been on. I see it on every call out. Don’t get me wrong, they are invaluable, but the culture is that they’re separate. It’s actually kind of sad, cause they could Amazing mentors, but they choose not to be. Ewell is a big boy and will be fine.

    To address your main point, if I were elected Sheriff, half the department would think I’m a genius and the other half would want me committed under a 5150 Hold

  • I’m so genuinely happy that Villanueva is Sheriff…Look at all the entitled crybabies whining when all he is doing is holding the brass accountable…Deputies are forced to be held accountable for things that are often out of their control…Great job Alex…When you are pissing the people who are corrupt off it means you’re doing something right

  • Good job Alex! For too long brass did whatever they wanted, and were not held accountable to what they were doing. Interestingly, they are complaining on the same thing they did to the deputies they were supposed to mentor, and supervise. Except this time, we are focusing on real values, instead of lies and misinformation that the brass was doing unchecked.

  • Make no mistake. We are one department with one goal. To serve our community. The disconnect lied between deputies and supervisors. This isn’t an us vs. them with brass, but we, the deputies have been done dirty by brass that have done whatever they wanted. Regardless of truth, if they didn’t like you, they had an unchecked power. Now it’s time to check, and make sure no violations are being commited. Thank you Alex!

  • When a member of the public calls 911 a Deputy Sheriff responds. There is but One Sheriff. Everyone else is a Deputy.

  • It is rather refreshing to see the new Sheriff begin his implementation of “reform.” Obviously, he is on the rank & file side, which is enlightening. For too long, Deputy’s have been at the receiving end of capricious, overzealous, ludicrous, disparaging accusations and misaligned discipline. To see the new Sheriff bring that to the surface is not only appreciated, but welcomed!

    In regards to the Lt.’s and the Capt’s having to remove and not display their insignia on their uniform is interesting. In my opinion, this is more of a psychological implication. Nonetheless, the methodology which was utilized, was in my opinion, not warranted. Not in the sense that the insignia is relevant, but more so in the way of how the action was perceived. These acts can be perceived as a form of work place harassment, hostile work environment, age discrimination etc.

    When there is change at the upper echelons of an organization, there will always be individuals who will be appointed, who espouse the same principles as the leader. In my opinion, this may be a transitional leadership team, to assist with the “reform” aspect of the organization. Further, if an organization is truly desirous of a culture change, the line supervisors (Sgt.’s) and middle managers (Lt.’s) are the individuals who set the pace. Hence, the cliche, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play.”

    Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this whole scenario plays out.

  • Get over it already, people! We all wear the same damn monkey suit, except some monkeys get more bananas than others bi-monthly. You can only eat so much bananas before you throw up. And all the crap that come out look and smell the same anyway.
    Few hours ago they issued emergency flashflood warnings … soooooo… if the EOC is activated, which monkeys are in charge. How do we tell them apart? Which monkey do the responding monkeys report to? Or do we go straight to the big gorrilla?

  • The sheriff is implementing managerial concept of lean six Sigma and bottom up. These concepts are in Fortune 500 companies. Six Sigma is concept that eliminates Waste. In which the Sheriff has already started. This also involves reallocating and deploying assets. For the middle Management that have not fulfilled Their minimum obligations to rate A pay grade. You need to stop complaining and start working.

    The previous administration implemented top down approach and look how that worked out for them. The executive teams overstepping their grounds and violating constitutional rights of Deputies. And here are the limitations to the top down approach that Hender the department and the deputies doing their job. One, decision making is limited to the top of the organization therefore lacking information, suggestions and ideas coming from below. Two, people at the top are not willing to listen to lower level employees ideas suggestions or feedback resulting in poor employee motivation and performance. Three, there is very little task delegation involved to change process thus lower level employees can feel they are perceived as someone incompetent or under qualified for such tasks, ask for a Sergeant for everything sound familiar?

    The bottom up approach focuses on the line Deputy first and providing the tools for success, aka Troop welfare. So, if middle management has a problem with Deputies doing their job? You might need to retire or a career.

    For the middle managers that have protected deputies I applaud you. For the ones that have not your time is coming.

  • Ronald McDonald dismanteled the dept in less than 4 yrs! Our jails are ran by hug a thug deps. There not hiring from within but instead hiring people who lateral out after 4 months on the dept. and to make matters worse he invented the dual track! Why hire deputies to be in custody forever if we have CA’s for that?

  • Our department is set up to function just fine with no division chiefs or captains or even lieutenants. Incident command takes over and be it a Commander or boot deputy trainee, the handling unit takes the handle. Who cares about rank insignia?? If you’re worried about it, put in the work and earn your bars and stars back. That’s my plan. I’m not worried. If you are, you should ask yourself why.

  • Workplace harassment?? Hostile work environment?? Get out of here with that nonsense. You can’t claim discrimination if it applies to ALL managers. Management isn’t a protected class.

  • @nomorebrassknuckles: you sign your own PCD’s and o/t slips, and approve your own arrests, and sign your own time sheets and handle your own car’s a d etc? If so, tell me how…

  • Why not if I’m properly trained and not incompetent I should…I mean after all we all start off as deputies what makes a supervisor that has been out of the field for YEARS any more capable than me…plus the fact I’m ultimately the “boot” who should know more since I’ve been off training recently and should be up to date on policies and current laws…No?

  • @laughingoutloud: you brought up a good point. The 4-year patrol requirement should then be reduced to two years because by the end of second year on patrol, all deputies should know everything, that’s why they call us two-year wonders.

  • I see Kelly Adler….opps Kelly Cruz getting demoted. No real patrol time and made LIEUTENANT?????

    Mr. Cruz can’t help you out on this……

  • Let’s imagine that a guy from the neighborhood is walking down the street when a patrol car rolls up and 2 officers jump out, they start yelling profanities at the guy, push him onto the hood of the car, kick his legs apart, then yank him up standing to his feet and toss him into the back of the patrol car.
    A few hours later, I see the same guy walking down the street again.
    What do I make of what i have seen? Why is this guy the unlucky victim of rough treatment by these officers – yet they didn’t actually arrest him.
    I would have to assume that he is their C.I.
    When they meet him in public, the tone can’t appear friendly. They have to rough-up the C.I. to preserve his legitimacy on the streets.
    Good information is something the new Sheriff will need in order to successfully manage this entire department.
    He will also need solid Intel. Intel that he can access through informal yet reliable channels.
    Some people saw Sheriff Villanueva verbally harassing Commander Ewell.
    Does the Sheriff want to humiliate Ewell and run him out of the department?
    Or is the Sheriff positioning Ewell to serve as an extremely valuable backchannel of Intel.
    For all those managers who would like to resist the ascendance of Villanueva and possibly plot for his downfall, the Sheriff has just legitimized Ewell as the guy to share their thoughts with.

  • Saw the Sgt’s promotion and transfer list today. Took a look because of what was said in the meeting the other day. Shocked at the units in the Department that appear on the transfer list. What the hell is the “Access to Care Bureau?” Or the “Community Partnerships Bureau?” How about “Inmate Services Bureau/Education Based Incarceration, Specialized Programs?” (they could have thrown in the kitchen sink as well in to that name!) They even have a “Population Management Bureau”. Back in the day that was a function of IRC. They created a whole Bureau to do something that once was a sub-function of another unit? It seems to me, if there was a problem, fix it. Don’t throw millions at it by adding more bureaucracy.

    Some of the names of these places take up half of a computer screen. I remember the olden days – maybe they still do – when they printed out the lists. Damn, this promotion and transfer list must take three reams of paper just because of the absurd names the Department has. How about this person’s transfer – ” INMATE SERVICES BUREAU / EDUCATION BASED INCARCERATION, SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS, CUSTODY SERVICES DIVISION, WILL TRANSFER TO COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS BUREAU, COUNTYWIDE SERVICES DIVISION.” Wow, what a paper-waste. Let alone, someone going from a “What!?” to a “What!?” And this wasn’t the only one. It was actually refreshing to see a few folks go from/to units I actually recognized – like patrol stations or real jails with regular names. In fact there was there was such a small number of them, it got me to wondering what % of the over-stretched LASD works in these grandiosely named units that did not exist just a few years ago. Judging by this list, there are quite a few.

    Maybe I’m just old and don’t understand. But I don’t understand.

  • @NoMoreBuckles…may I suggest a reading of California Employment Law. Just maybe, you could gain some valuable insight and knowledge. That is, if you are so inclined.

  • @Lean Time….Six Sigma is a methodology, not a concept, whereas, proven strategies, and statistical methodologies are utilized / implemented, in an effort to improve process performance and customer satisfaction. The purpose of this methodology, is to attain a 99.99% defect reduction. These methodologies are more common within the manufacturing arena. I believe what the Sheriff may be implementing, is more or less a concept of TQM (Total Quality Management). This particular approach is implemented to “drive down” the decision making process to the lowest possible level (i.e., line personnel). Thus, creating an environment of “inclusion” in the decision making process.

  • I like this concept of inclusion where the people at the bottom can actually make a decision and be supported by the upper management. Under the McDonnell/Teran regime, people at the bottom could not make a decision out of fear of being wrong, a mistake that could cause Teran to put a fake case against them, citing the most fabricated violation of something. That caused low morale, low productivity which in turn greatly affected the community, causing crime to go up.

    The line personnel doing the hard work are the ones who need the support, and the ones who need to be heard because they know first hand what it is going on. In the sheriff’s department there is a culture of “I know more because I have been on for so long, I worked such station and my employee number is such, so I know better, plus I have bars and stars on my collar” That is the culture that is detrimental to the organization. Based on what I hear from the angry demoted people, I believe Alex wants to change that culture, and that is reform.

    The supervisors and managers need to take the roll of true leaders, true mentors where they want the little people to succeed instead of failing. There are many supervisors and managers who are outstanding, the majority are, there are just a few, who unfortunately where in positions they cannot handle and need to be redeployed.

  • Interesting perspective, and one not considered by most. It would be a smart strategy to have or create someone on the inside as a means of getting real, valuable, intel.

  • Besides the units listed, there were a large number of custody track only sergeants promoted. It would appear the house is not burning down and the new sheriff didn’t screw anyone over.

  • What about the Ideas Unit? There was such a beast, but I had no idea what they did for a living… How about LASD2? Everyone in that Tanaka-run unit got promoted minimally to Chief smh and all their offspring underlings fasttracked from there.. no wonder a lot of peeps were pissed silently.. I remember the day Ray Leyva got banished to PDC… now look who’s walking the yard in the federal pen…… Life holds many unexpected pleasant surprises. Live honestly and fairly and sleep well at night.. I pray Misters Leyva, Murakami, and Olmstead will provide the Sheriff with calm and solid leadership that has been absent since 1998. In retrospect, now I understand why they wanted to keep Sheriff Block on the breathing apparatus until after that election…

  • I saw the recent promotions/transfer list. It’s pretty big and there are many folks who don’t meet the “2 year work the line requirement” moving into administrative spots and folks “being taken care of” with regard to transfer/promotion assignments.

    The current execs either slide this promotion/transfer list in under the radar and pulled a fast one on Sheriff Villaneuva or, he is just serving up more of the same.

    The old adage, “it’s not what you know but who you know” is still the modus operendi at LASD it would seem.

    Let’s hope the bright star doesn’t fizzle out, crash and burn.

  • Maybe the Ideas Unit thought up Ideas for new Units. Someone had to come up with these things, or did they just spring up from those wonderful recesses of Baca’s planetarium of a mind.

    If the “Weekend at Bernie’s” concept had just been viable, this all would have turned out so differently. 🙁

  • I always like the concept of including people that really do the job in decision making. It’s important in terms of creating efficient, fair processes and moving forward.

    A lot of interesting comments on this thread. While people may not agree, one thing is clear – the passion for the job is alive and well and there is an almost desperate hope for better days. That passion is a good thing – for the community and for Deputies. Now let’s hope that the new Sheriff leads by example in a professional, fair manner. While some of his actions concern me, very glad to hear that he’s removed heavy handed civilians from influencing the disciplinary process.

    Some wise comments above. “Just Sayin” has always impressed me with his/her comments. I hope that he/she is high enough up in the chain of command to have input.

  • Maj Kong, you are so right! I’m wondering if AV ran one of the finest Trojan horse campaigns, appealing to the ultra-liberal LA County voter base to win the election to fix what’s broken in our beloved department. Time will tell, so far the changes made are a good start, lets see what happens when the real work starts for him.

  • The department is truly in need of a house cleaning and a restructuring. I believe this massive sergeant promotion/transfer list was basically out of the new sheriff’s hands. Those promotions were announced before his swearing in, actually before his election was finalized, so I think he (the county) would’ve been in for a whoooooole lot of lawsuits if they were scrapped.

    I whole heartedly approve of the change in admin/coveted assignments hinging on time in a radio car. I find it a slap in the face that deputies with less than a year off training in a radio car a working in Tac Planning at EOB, telling seasoned deputies how to do jobs that those “Tac Planners” have never done. For a demonstration of this, one needs only to look at the way the Malibu fires were mismanaged by EOB and McBuckles baby the DOC.

    So far, none of the new executives have done one thing. Nothing. And I think that’s a good start. No crazy orders, directives or knee jerk decisions handed down. Totally holding any sort of judgement on AV till something actually HAPPENS.

  • I admire the fact that Alex has only wanted a Tahoe for a company car currently being built for Code 3 at Eastern! He turned down the previous $70k Denali and 10 other back up cars and drivers our previous boss had.

  • You were asking how we handle situations without rank when the EOC has been activated. I replied that we utilize the ICS. Now you’re asking about PCDs and overtime slips? Two different things, right? Critical incident vs. bureaucracy.

  • Elated that AV declined to use the last sheriff’s “Beast” and accompanying entourage. What a colossal waste of department resources!

  • The fact that all you whinny bitches show up here and cry and whine, proves the point that you guys have nothing better to do. So in essence, Villanueva is right. You slugs need to be held accountable. What’s the best way of getting rid of lazy, kiss ass do nothings, that’s making them work. AV, keep the pressure on brother, these complaining slugs will break and turn their shit in. It’s already working. LACERA line is getting longer. Just like Trump’s first 100 days. Drain the swamp of these slugs. We the workers are behind you. Shit, keep the bars, I don’t care. They don’t make me the uniform does. Exciting times ahead.

  • True it is a saving but minuscule in comparison to other wasted departments resources. Don’t be fooled by the superficial elements. If you really want to talk savings there are more economical vehicles to suit the need. Again, small in comparison. The real “Beast” is the outlandish and colossal payouts caused by Deputies who have crossed the line.

  • I voted for Alex and I hope I don’t regret it. He is instilling fear, instead of being a leader. He’s starting out being arrogant and vindictive. People want to follow Alex, but want to do so because of what he’s doing and how he’s doing it not out of fear. Let’s not trade one tyrant for another. A lot of people have dedicated decades to law enforcement. Alex doesn’t have the courtesy and respect to clean house quietly. Everyone would know what happened and why.

    Alex and others paid the price of the old “Region II” clique. If you didn’t work FOR II, you didn’t have anything coming. Alex began his first day changing that by making ELA Station the new clique by reserving seats at his swearing in. It looks like if you worked ELA, you’re now in the car.

    Taking off insignias at a meeting is one thing, but leaving them off makes Alex and the department look like a joke. It only hurts the public who needs to know who a supervisor is and the insignias immediately indicate that. All the deputies know who the lieutenants and above are. The deputies know that just because they don’t have insignias on, the person still holds the rank, decision making abilities, power, etc.

    Alex wants personnel to have a strong patrol background and to connect with the community, which I agree with. However, to discount the work COPS, community relations, community based teams, YAL, etc is wrong. Those personnel connect with community and do a greater service than a patrol deputy that’s going call to call.

    Unfortunately Alex will not listen to Ray, Bob or Tim. I know it’s only been one week, but I fear for the future of LASD.

  • Alex, you quickly addressed the firing of numerous executives and had a meeting with lieutenants and above. Deputies and their union, ALADS, supported you and are waiting for you to address them. There are a lot rumors floating around about how you are going to improve deputies working conditions and morale. Hurry up and help the deputies.

  • What Now: Absolutely correct. The Malibu Fires/Command Post/EOC was a prime example of inept people occupying decision making positions they have no business being in.

  • “It only hurts the public who needs to know who a supervisor is, and the insignias immediately indicate that.” The above statement is so inaccurate, most of the public does not know the difference between two stripes, three stripes, bars nor stars. In fact, a deputy with many stars on the sleeve because of his time on gets more attention because they assume a greater hierarchy. In addition, when is a lieutenant or above dealing with the public solving their issues? Never. Only the occasional complaint a Lieutenant may handle from an unhappy customer but other than that, the insignia is nothing more than an ego booster.

    So, no insignia means brushed ego, which is what hurts the insignia-less people, the public is not getting hurt.

  • As a deputy I’m happy that we no longer have to follow our supervisors and the Sheriff will back us now. Reminds me of the good ol days of working in the gray. Great job Alex you’re the best, well, at least since PT. Maybe you’ll get to visit him someday soon and tell him his plan is now complete.

  • Even when deps do everything right we still settle it’s called a “business decision “ After a civil trial for a gangster who shot at deps and deps shot back , a juror was quoted as saying “ The deputies didn’t do anything wrong, but we felt sorry for the mom” so they gave her 4 million there are many of these cases involving force where we settled even though deps did it right it’s sickening but true

  • Joe NoMcBuckles- If you follow that logic, then Alex should do away with all insignias, including sergeants and bonus deputies. Don’t single out certain ranks. There are people at each rank that don’t deserve it. LASD is not your kid’s soccer league where everyone gets a trophy.

  • How does it hurt the public? I’m a Lt. and I could care less what’s on my collar. I think Alex should keep them off longer. The uniform makes me, not some butter bar on my collar. There’s a ton of dead weight in this department at the Lt and above level and more so at the Sergeant level. This is Alex’s Reform process he’s been preaching about. Now that he’s executing what he’s been preaching, all you ass kissers are freaking out. I love it.. You can’t rise up or move where you want because of who’s ass you kissed. Back to the days of putting your gun belt on and earn your keep. Something majority of you know nothing about.

  • Some of us are wondering how he plans to fill 3000 patrol deps positions. Obviously, this is will be a long-term plan. I’m in favor of this, just wondering how he plans to achieve this. Possible reassignments, bring some deps back from ROD status, aggressive recruitment, end to custody lifers…
    Again, we all have to be patient. He is still less than 2 weeks in, and he is doing what he said he would do when he ran for the position. We can only go up from here.

  • Wow, why would you lay her out like that. Such a POS. Hide behind your screen name like a coward. Obviously you have an ax to grind with her. That’s the problem with this department now. Throw your own under the bus and run off and snitch on each other. If you have an issue with her, be man or woman and address it with her.

    Celeste, please delete comments where individuals names are mentioned. Nothing good comes from that. This blog is a departmental bitch fest but should stick to issues and defaming individuals unfairly.

  • Meant to say not defaming others. These are individuals with families and loved ones. No person should be exposed because of personal vendettas. I have no problem talking shit about what’s going on but I would never name anyone by name. That’s really tasteless.

  • Post the link to the article. Dying to know the basis of their lawsuit. Did they include a box of tissues and tampons in their settlement too?

  • It’s funny, every fired and ROD Deputy out there is pouring wine into the lil King’s chalice. When will the ObamaNueva (New Obama) inform these Deps that they’re not coming back.

  • Perspective – You are absolutely right in the comments you’ve made above. The Sheriff has a lot of work ahead…

  • Why do you care? You must be worried since you’re probably one of the turds that helped these kids lose their jobs just so you’ll get promoted. Since when did we as deputies celebrate the trouble our partners got into. Now I don’t and will never condone anyone who does criminal shit and gets arrested or sells dope or is a 415g..aside from that, they are still human beings and have families and loves ones that depend on them. Come on fellas, let’s not celebrate or talk shit about someone’s demise. Karma still works and none of us would ever want to be in that predicament. Don’t kick anyone when they’re down. I personally know two good guys who were wrongfully terminated and would love to see them back. I’m sure you all do too.

  • If the rumors are true, there’s gonna be a major shake up and movements from Sgt and up. Hell Ya!! That’s what I’m talking about Alex! Best Sheriff ever… Love seeing all these clowns who let their rank get heavy finally shiver in their boots…Also, it appears as though the more these whiners cry, the more Alex turns the heat up…. Bring it Sheriff and keep it coming sir.

  • So AV already caved on the insignias from January till this Sunday. I have got calls from all over U.S. and what an embarrassment we are

    Friend of mine had his City Manager tell him. My city , my event, you will wear your bars because I’m not playing this juvenile game. He did wear them and good for him.

  • Zen,

    I’m not someone celebrating a deputy losing his livelihood. I apologize if your post was not directed toward me. I just want to see our partners that were wrongfully terminated return to the department. Yes, some of the brass have placed an unusual burden on newer and seasoned deps due to their (brass) mistakes and errors. These things will work themselves out. There is always a day of reckoning. I would simply like to see the wrongs made right.

  • @los Angeles county tax payer – this goes to show how little you know about civil litigation. Law enforcement across the nation has now made it a practice to pay out on these settlement to avoid a bigger payout in court or trial. Jurors aren’t just normal citizens like yourself that no little about tactics, training, and these critical incidents.

    Something these jurors do have is a “painted picture” of law enforcement that we are all aggressors our to so wrong, which we know is not true. Seeing as a large percentage of cops go to work each day and don’t do anything to that effecT.

    These are not exact numbers but in 2017 unfortunately and sadly approximately 1000 people were killed in OIS. In 2017 the population was approximately 327 million people . Although no one wants to lose their loved ones, especially in a OIS, I’d still have to say those are good numbers to disprove that cops aren’t out there to kill or hurt anyone.

    Lastly, no ones lives matters more than the next, but if I’m every OIS we payout to the suspects family, why are we not afforded that opportunity when a officer is killed. Can we sue the family of the suspect that’s kills a cop? All lives matter!

    LA County in general spends aggregious money not just on law enforcement settlements.

  • One guy comes in and makes OSS swap out their 501’s and dinner jackets, makes station DB wear a flipping dress coat when out & about, brass snaps, and doesn’t say a word in our favor when we just went through a horrible raise negotiation……..Another comes in and guts the upper management, preaches “pay your dues”and says he’s going to scrap dual-track & get your ass to patrol for more than two years before you test for anything ………..I will take the later please. Keep shaking the dead fruit from the tree AV !

  • I’m afraid this “exercise in humility” was lost on many. Those who have no humility, sense of fairness and moral code with which they operate, had only one take away, “wah..wah..wah…it’s not fair, I earned this and where is my lawyer”. These folks are still the same power hungry, distant and “far removed from the line staff” folks they were before and will always be. The only way to really change this mindset is to excise and chop out this cancer. Many will slink back under the rocks they crawled out from and won’t resume slithering until they feel the coast is clear and they “know whose who in the zoo”.

    I foresee business as usual come Monday, with all the feudal lords imposing their ill-wills over their fifedoms.

    You definitely got your work cut out for you Sheriff Villaneuva.

  • PPOA sent out a weak letter to membership re Sheriff’s action on Tuesday. If PPOA were serious about their membership representation, it could start with the following:

    1. Fire up the law firm by having paralegals contact every member by phone or in person in order to obtain as many John and Jane Doe statements and fresh recollections of the meeting as possible;
    2. Have attorney’s file relevant legal actions in superior and federal courts on behalf of the class in order to seek an injunction, restitution for damages, including possible punitive damages;
    3. Copy those legal filings with letters to the Civil Service Commission, each County Supervisor, the County CEO, the US Department of Labor, and the National Labor Relations Board. Get this on everyone’s radar that we may have another rogue sheriff;
    4. Meet with POST immediately in Sacramento and make the case that what this sheriff is doing is effectively de-certifying each command staff member who is forced to comply with new criteria to keep their existing rank. Ranks where they have already proven themselves to be competent through years of yearly performance ratings. Request a POST investigation with a possible sanction of decertification of the Department and/or its Academy until it functions rationally;
    5. Go full throttle with media outlets (LA Times, LA Daily News, NY Times) making the case that a rookie sheriff is clearly making early errors in judgment by retaliating against an entire member class (some 500—bigger than most police agencies) of a union which had opposed his election;
    6. Draft 6-8 talking points on how the actions of the new sheriff are unethical, illegal, unwise, destabilizing, and evidence of mismanagement;
    7. Gather up more police experts for expert testimony against Sheriff’s actions like those mentioned in today’s Times article. Connect reporters to these experts.

    If PPOA wants to be taken seriously then man-up and bring in the lawyers immediately. By the way, was county counsel consulted prior to Tuesday’s meeting? What is county counsel doing to protect the integrity of its largest Department and the taxpayers’ money regarding future class-action payout? Maya Lau, did you forget to ask those questions?

  • The rumor about the Sgts going to be hit with a big shake up makes a lot of sense now! I’ve been noticing how these little Hitlers are saying hello to everyone now when they would look at you like you were a POS before AV took office. . These sgts thought they were Gods gifts to the dept ha! Turn up the Heat AV! A lot of weak ASS management that needs to be purged! Especially the ones who work their civilian employees too the bone while they polish their ASS on the desk.

    P.S. you should have checked yourself before you wrecked yourself! Lmao

  • With all due respect, what has the new Sheriff done that is so embarrassing? As to your friend, do him a favor and remind him who he works for. We don’t take orders from City Managers…

  • Lieutenant’s and above maybe it is humiliating to have a former LT, now the boss, tell you take off your Bars/Stars but, Imagine someone saying “give me your badge and gun! I was routinely assigned ROD deputies at my former assignment. I actually had one arrive directly from IAB one day that I sent home early he was teared up saying “I didn’t do anything wrong I was just doing my Job” After 2 years he was back to work. TERRIBLE. This particular deputy was the hardest worker I had work for me.
    Please supervisor’s just “Suck it Up” for a while if your a good supervisor/mentor then you shouldn’t have to worry. Alex has always looked out for the little guy so just remember where you came from and be humble now. In my 34 years I’ve had some really awesome supervisors, but it just seemed in the past 10 years they have gone down, not caring about there subordinates or any personal issues they encounter, they just care about themselves. One last issue I have with Sworn (dep and up) is how most of you treat non sworn, S/O, S/A, LET, C/A, CSS, these folks do there best for a lot less pay, so show them some respect too!

  • EOB needs to be restructured. Their Captain is a failure. This was obvious during the recent Malibu deployment. CIB needs to be significantly downsized and merged with another bureau. They are a waste of resources and are good at pissing off Detective Division.

  • Editor’s Note:

    Dear 5150, I deleted one comment of yours because you were trash talking someone by name. Then you preceded to do the same thing in a new comment.

    Please don’t do that any more.

    This same message goes to a few others who have been doing something similar.

    Thank you for your cooperation.

    C.

  • Restitution for damages? LOL, what damages? Let me know when demanding EXPERIENCE is a disqualifying criteria. Sounds to me like you were exactly who the sheriff had in mind to benefit from this exercise. Let me guess, the list of your “operations/aide” positions is a lot longer than the list of your line jobs, right? Bummer!

    FYI, when you have decades of pure politics driving employment decisions at the rank of lieutenant and above, the introduction of qualifying law enforcement experience is probably a great idea long overdue. Tell you what, I’ll help you lobby with your panel of experts to get “hurt feelings” enshrined as the next protected class under Title VII!

  • Where is PPOA? I ask myself the same question. Where was PPOA when the McDonnell/Teran regime was axing little deputies left and right, fed to them by your peers. Yes, your peers were giving Diana Teran little deputies with no rank as a sacrificial offering, expecting the next rank and pay. In turn, Diana Teran never cared to find out the motivation behind a supervisor’s desire to put a case on a deputy. She never cared about finding the truth, to the contrary, she would order ICIB to make a case, to get creative and to work on the gray so to speak.

    In turn members of PPOA would do as ordered by Diana Teran and go along expecting the next rank and pay which of course they got. Alex will create the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” and what I just described, will be uncovered. So, I say this if you were a Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Commander, Chief who fabricated a case against a deputy, who destroyed and concealed evidence to hurt the deputies, you should be a little worried because in the best of the cases you will be found incompetent.

    So, yes where was PPOA and where was Moriguchi when the above was happening right in front of them and was a big known secret countywide? So now some supervisors al of the sudden are looking for PPOA, Moriguchi will probably listen now since Alex has now become his political enemy. Before he was in bed with the McDonnell/Teran regime, that is why PPOA was not paying attention.

    Just as a reminder, didn’t Moriguchi said Alex was like a drive-thru cashier at a restaurant, trying to run the restaurant? Maybe Moriguchi now has an ax to grind…

  • Joe, it really does not matter who “where is PPOA?”is, you as well as any of us know, who the cry babies are, who the crooked are, who the ones who did less than the minimum are, the ones who went around making cases against deputies, they cannot hide, we all know who they are.

    We can pretend we don’t know who they are, because they also pretend to be who they are not….

  • @Anthony Brown: Thank God! It’s my RDO tomorrow and I was expecting to have to show up at the Academy at O dark thirty hours on the grind (?), ground (?), tarmac (?, yep, some of us old fogies are that wide around the girth), grinder (o hec, whatever it’s called these days), wearing skivvies with a suitcase to hear my reassignment, march to the drum beat to the farthest place away from home (like from Brea/Yorba Linda) to Wayside.
    Re: the new criterion for promotion, I hope the Sheriff is true to his word because I know a handful of lieutenants who do meet all the new requirements, but chose to take the higher road to earn their stripes and bars. Will BOLO to see where they end up.
    We have station captains whose patrol time as deputy, sergeant and lieutenant (all three ranks) don’t even add up to two years. It’s pathetic. When PT was in charge, they slid these people through patrol as ride-alongs to get their “patrol” time stamp and slid them back to his bureau. Then there was this game of promoting and remain, so that they pass through the first six months of probation (because of their lack of patrol experience to handle calamities), then send them out afterward so they can’t be demoted for failing to pass probation. Yep, that game was played, too.
    And how about this… we had a chief’s aide who signed the chief’s name on all outstanding evaluations, except for their buddies, then sent them back down. So the chief never knew who the workers were. This person is not on the Department anymore, thank God.
    I can go on and on…. I am praying AV will be a righteous man, that he will be fair and just. I feel his frustration and disgust about all the shenanigans that went on. I speak from having plateaued and seeing promotions with employee numbers almost a third higher than mine issued, and just shake my head because I know they are really incompetent. And no, I still respectfully disagree with the stripping of the bars because it is demeaning, as we are grown men and women and our children are watching from their homes with their children, and our children are discussing this in their college classrooms and laugh their ass off at the ranking supervisors. As one of my supervisors told me before I went off to my next assignment… just remember, you don’t need to flex your muscle, pull rank or act like an ass to the deputies, they already know who you are..
    God speed to you, Sheriff. We have faith in you.

  • I agree with Anthony Brown’s observation about the JDIC announcement. Personnel “can” wear their insignias starting today. Is it a test or a poor choice of words? Can’t wait to see.

  • Im talking in generalities…. ummmm, lets call this dude…. Mr McQuid…. Sir, you should atop running your mouth so much. It’s painfully obvious you dislike Sheriff Villanueva. Please Sir, smoke another cigar, enjoy your vacation home, be happy! Or, come back to SLA!!!! I’ll hold 35T1 open for you sir! Hahahahaha!!!!! What a clown!!!! A straight clown…..

  • Im talking in generalities…. ummmm, lets call this dude…. Mr McQuid…. Sir, you should atop running your mouth so much. It’s painfully obvious you dislike Sheriff Villanueva. Please Sir, smoke another cigar, enjoy your vacation home, be happy! Or, come back to SLA!!!! I’ll hold 35T1 open for you sir! Hahahahaha!!!!! What a clown!!!! A straight clown…..

  • @ where’s PPOA, sir or ma’am we are here and we are not going to do a damn thing. We are going to keep collecting dues and squander your money as we have been doing for decades. We have free notary services, insurance, fax and copy services, water , we make keys, haircuts, snow cones, immediate SR22 filing, Barbazon college affiliated, quasi legal advice, circus Vargas tickets, free popcorn and Kool aid while you wait. We love units 612, 612, 621, 631 & 632 we profit while you lose.

  • @ Superduty, I agree with what you’re saying in particular how S/O’s, S/A’s, LET’s, C/A’s are treated and underpaid. However, it’s the fault of your union (i.e. PPOA) not the LASD or the County. Not sure why 621 members stay with this union when you have a choice. PPOA says they’re your bargaining union and they are correct in their assertion, but what have they gotten you that’s out of the ordinary? Pay? Nope!! MOU’s that accurate describe what your duties are? Nope!!!! A few years ago some C/A’s had enough of PPOA’s, BS and tried to leave by decertifying PPOA with the help of AFSCME. PPOA lied and said AFSCME was anti law enforcement and some of you believed the BS. FELON SHERIFF Baca said he would dismantle the C/A program if C/A’s were successful replacing PPOA and that also scared some of you. What did you get with the current contract? I know you guys are not happy with PPOA, but you stay with them. Go over to LASPA they provide legal representation too. You now have a choice. For those of you who don’t know AFSCME endorsed Sheriff Villanueva. When the time comes 621 needs to leave PPOA and go over to AFSCME. Just ask yourself “what has ppoa gotten for me since I’ve been with them”. If you’re not in unit 612 (Captains & LT’s) PPOA works against you NOT FOR YOU. What union fights to keep your wages lower? Don’t believe me read the PPOA custody plan for C/A’s It’s on their web page somewhere. Furthermore, why would you want to belong to a union that also services your supervisors, total conflict of interest if you ask me. It’s easy to leave them all you have to do is call them and cancel. It’s as easy as that. However, make sure you have LASPA before you cancel just to protect yourself.
    Don’t be SCARED TO LEAVE !!!!!!

  • @MICAh you absolutely correct! Please anyone name me a union who works against their members. SEIU nope TEAMSTERS nope AFSCME nope! Your correct MICAH PPOA treats their 621 members like shit! How many times have you seen a 621 member collecting aluminum cans at work? They look like freaking hobos trying make ends meet! Sad sight! But hey you get what you pay for with this crappy union…..

  • You’re a clown…one of those guys that believes that deputies want to be out there “hard charging” when you have supervisors and brass waiting behind every single corner to burn them…wake up this is not the “glory days”

  • @sidelines You’re a clown…one of those guys that believes that deputies want to be out there “hard charging” when you have supervisors and brass waiting behind every single corner to burn them…wake up this is not the “glory days”

  • Editor’s Note:

    Dear 280L I deleted your last comment because, in it, you were talking smack about identifiable people.

    EVERY SLA Guy, you’re getting a little too close to the edge.

    Please dial it back a little.

    Thanks in advance.

    C.

  • The sheriff was extremely mad to see celeste freemon at the Inauguration. He didn’t want her in the front. Sorry celeste just wanted to let you know about this.

  • @Truth & @EVERY SLA Guy,
    Everyone can see that the two of you are identical twins with identical posts. What a scientific breakthrough and clown show at the same time! I now see why A.V. wants deputies to have more certified education and degree’s. If your 49’s are similar, you’re a felon in the making. You big DUMMY!

  • Just waiting for him to turn his attention north to the worst clown show on the Department. It’s time 60C and his little buddy ops Lt pack their gear and go man a dorm at NCCF. Although that may be above their ability too. We’ve suffered long enough…send help….please.

  • The same applies to members in ALADS noting that ALADS history is full of undisclosed money matters along with selective legal representation. The current ALADS Board continues to blame the past regime however they fail to right many past wrongs. Simple equation when you add up the input of dues in addition to compounded financial accounts with no accountability, PPOA does. Every past regime including the current regime fails to actuate a full disclosure on Bud Treece who is the “Godfather” of ALADS. If only every member knew…..

  • You ran amiss with your dissertation. Do your research on payouts regarding deputies who “crossed the line” with the latest notable one being the rape of several (three to be exact) female inmates in ths Century Regional Detention Facility. As far as cops outside of LASD, review the Rodney King beatdown and the ensuing lies via the reports written by those who participated in it. LAPD and Los Angeles City shoul have offered a hefty and duly payout to avoid the worldwide shame and embarrassment instead of a trial. Amazing how you assume, never knowing who’s who in the comment section.

  • Agreed SIX SIGMA LEAN: GREEN OR BLACK. About time someone in this whole blog saw it for what it is. A business trying to survive in this crazy COP hating world. It’s a business people.

    Tattoos: How relevant is a tattoo in the scheme of things? Does it really matter. How old were these guys when they became Reapers or Vikings? most likely they regret getting it or reflect on the days when they were hookin’ and bookin’ as younger men. Good ol’ boys.

    Look at the bigger picture: Psychological Operations and more house cleaning left to do. If he is smart he will turn over his Hierarchy every 2 years like Trump has done.

    Regarding Assistant Sheriff and Chief of Staff=Court Services Gutierrez and Del Mese. I am sure they will be promoting their most loyal followers in the future. Same ol’ game just different players.

    Stand By to Stand by Folks…Merry go round and round.

  • SOS, for those of us at NCCF, please don’t send us that 60C trash. We are expecting enough problems with the new Chief of Custody Division, PJ. PJ has no leadership ability, no integrity, no interest in morale problems, and no record of success at any unit he has commanded at captain, commander, or captain…LOL. Google him. He will trash Custody Div. and blame others for the failure. He will claim victory, but fail the troops. Not very consistent with what I heard about the Sheriff’s speech about treating our people better and merit based promotions. PJ has been the problem for years, and never part of any solution. 57 yrs old, 35 yrs on, and still can’t leave…Listen to AV and go apply for a Chief job at another department.

  • @SOS: When you go 10-8, go to the front of the station and fly the LASD flag upside down, to signal the fort is in dire distress. Hopefully the Calvary, ummmm I mean the USAF will be coming to rescue.

  • Why so snarky towards Alex and the USAF? Granted that everyone can’t be Marines but I’d like to hear your take on why you feel the way that you do and no, I’m not here to judge you just curious as to the disguised Anti-Alex sentiments.

  • Ms. Fremon, I hope you are a journalist. If so, please enjoy your right to free press. Naming names is not a violation of free press. Further, statements made had not criminal intent. Facts are facts……

  • If the sheriff is serious about transparency, the assignment history (including length of time in line assignments) of all sworn persons being promoted should be published via a Department message.

  • Stan, you’re the man.. former FTO at Carson years ago.. I second that motion. And please also add that they can’t count patrol sergeant ride-alongs as patrol time, nor working O/T spots at fast stations count either… I know a Captain who did that…brag about having worked at such and such and we had to call him on it ..and on loans to admin spots while assigned to patrol doesn’t count either.. ‘nuf of the friggin’ shell games.

  • Celeste, then in that case, please let us know the IP address of 280L and expose who he is. What a POS. This fuck obviously has no problem laying out his partners.

  • Regretfully…..all of the “administrative, white collar shananigans” are what happens when folks without honor, morals and scrupples are given unlimited power.

    Maybe it’s just human nature to break the rules, lie, cheat and step on the backs of others to get ahead. I believe Sheriff Villanueva did his doctoral dissertation in the are regarding the promotion process in law enforcement agencies. Im sure he knows what a mess it is and the ways even “Civil Service Rules” are manipulated.

    God help him to stay true and strong sorting out the mess at the top and effecting a forward looking positive culture change in the Department.

  • Hey some of you like “WHERES PPOA” need to find faith and penitence and tell our Supreme Judge what you did to the lives of many. Goodbye to you! Keep on truckin Alex. Step one is done! Get rid of Dual track and coveted testing next! Multiple stations under my belt! Still carrying a posse box.

  • What’s up with Av and Jackie lacey?? They had a conference a few hours ago and noticed she won’t shake his hand lol lol lol just saw the pics! Don’t look like she likes him.

  • To answer your question Um….Public accountability…..To make sure he goes by what he preaches. And to What the….thank you for the kind words.

  • Just saw the demoted brass list. Who the hell is Jody Sharp and what rounds were made to achieve this commission. Never heard of this person and I’ve been around.

  • She doesn’t like you so stop trying to be cool with her dummy. Unfortunately you won’t be able to fit in with her. You terminated her century relative. Come on Av wake up.

  • Your brass/managers along with the board of supervisors don’t like you. Good luck on those checks.

  • It don’t matter if they don’t like him. He’s voted in. He doesn’t negotiate for anything other than budget and BOS knows that they have to pay. They can pinch a penny here and there, but he will throw shade on them if they try.

    Secondly, who cares about brass. The patrol line likes him and is fully behind his moves. I imagine the custody deps scared to come out don’t and 8th admin deps don’t either, but I’ll reiterate patrol is is full support! The little guys matter. Brass is a bunch is compromised of people that have 25 or more years on getting paid really really really well. Their checks come regardless. There’s LT’s making more than Sheriff and hardly seen. So……

  • Code 1M, I support your thinking, the field deputies are beyond excited, they now feel they have a sheriff who will support them instead of second-guessing their actions for political gain. I would strongly advise that now is the time to really make adjustments to the way we do police work. We need to police ourselves by answering those pesky calls for service to the best of our ability because although we may think those calls are silly, the person making the 911 call believes the call is very important. Writing a report is not that difficult and it also counts as a stat.

    We need to be proactive looking for criminal activity, yet being mindful of the MPP, as well as the federal case law that guides our actions. We need to do policing constitutionally, so we never have to deal with outsiders such as the McDonnell/Teran regime. Doing things according to the MPP and federal guidelines will slow things down, and there will be fewer stats. However, if we police each other, not only we can help Alex being successful, we will be helping ourselves, our families and our careers.

    There are so many deputies that were done wrong for political gain, as McBuckles used to say, to set the tone, to send the message. They did not care about the truth but the stat. Fortunately, the voters told McBuckles no more.

    The people with stars and bars were the ones teaching us to take “people to jail” however when things did not go right, they were the first to second guess deputies’ actions. They remembered how crooked they were, so they were now assuming, the deputy in question must have been doing what they were doing in the earlier part of their career. I’ll leave with this, do you remember the teachings of hurry up and take people to jail, get creative and the sort? Well, that is what the McDonnell/Teran was doing to little deputies, and we all know it was not right.

  • At Bob, she was the worst rated Captain “Ever” in the ALADS dispatcher. An absolute terrible leader, who obviously was just a “Yes Man” in the Buckles band of misfits. We are all happy she is gone. THE END.

  • Just Because, you sound like a miserable POS. I think I know who you are, but will confirm this afternoon. You keep forgetting that you’re on a public domain, dumbass. Let’s see how you fare once called out.

  • A few things come to mind with the Baca debacle. I do hope Sheriff’ AV won’t be making the same mistakes with his leadership:
    -Please don’t make promises you won’t keep. It is bad for morale, and ultimately, you lose credibility and respect with the troops. We are thousands who toil and show up to work everyday, continue do our job to the best of our ability regardless of who’s in charge. Line deputies, patrol deputies, court deputies, custody deputies are all the back bone of the department. You owe it to them and to your communities to be true to your word. None of this b.s. about going “out there” and make one arrest a year…or institute such 5-year plan LASD2 bull crap to give your cronies A+ schedule and something easy to do. These acts are just that, an act. They look good for the media circus and optics, but they aren’t worth the beans in our burritos.
    -Don’t use your position to fund your private junkets. During his second term Baca was gone abroad most of the time, traveling the world for useless reason, while some of his exec staff also took the same advantage and traveled for free through their privileged connections (What purpose does the cultural exchange in China, or Thailand do for our line deputies?
    -Don’t order the background investigators to expedite and push through your relatives, sons and daughters of friends of friends, etc. through the background process, bend the rules and make exceptions. It will come back to bite you.
    -Don’t force your subordinates to submit “donations” to your cronies’ retirement gifts, like Tanana forced his staff to pay $100 each to buy his buddy a Harley.
    -What’s good for the goose is good for the gander: if you impose requirements for line people to meet in order to promote, your benefactors and supporters should also have to follow the same rules. Baca and PT espoused the higher education requirements, but some of their henchmen and women had no more than a high school education.
    -Crack down of some of the training abuses at certain stations. I won’t name names here, but to extend trainees’ patrol training just so the t/o’s can extend their bonus pay for another month or two is just uncalled for, same with making trainees buy lunch for the whole dispatch staff.
    -Take care of your patrol stations. Is is necessary for every new captain to have the same office re-painted? get a new car? change out the one-year-old carpet just to match the frigging cubicle partitions match in the secretariat…while the printers, chairs and equipment for patrol is so dilapidated, it’s shameful. Years ago, whenever the patrol stations got new b/w’s , admin always got first dibs, then DB…. Patrol always got the leftovers with almost 200K on the odometer. Ask 53T1 back then about the big rusted gaping hole in the driver’s floorboard. If the car stalled, the poor deputy could just stick his foot through the hole and start pushing like Fred Flintstones, while yelling YabbaDabbaDoo as he rolled code. The springs on the seat were so worn out I thought he modified it to look like a lowrider.
    -And please, the execs need to drive their damn county cars either to fleet or to the station to gas up or have it serviced. There’s no need to have the LETs or any underlings do that for them. My sore spot back then was seeing the two poor LETs at HQ, soaking wet in the rain, picking trash from the back seat of the exec’s vehicles. There was one f**king exec who had a habit of throwing chicken bones and toothpicks behind the front seat. Goes to show you rank and money don’t mean having class or culture.
    -And please, please, please, no more dual track. It’s divisive and does nothing to make a deputy sheriff a deputy sheriff!
    Sorry for the rant.

  • If the sheriff really wants time and experience in patrol to be the gold standard for promotion, then apply much greater weight to someone with FTO experience when deciding who to promote. That is after all the first real test of a deputy’s ability to impart knowledge and lead.

  • I agree with Joe Nobuckles and Snarky. 99% of deputies want to go out and do the Lord’s work and do it the right way. Just because the Sheriff is preaching good old fashioned police work, doesn’t mean people should think they can go back to the Tanaka “grey area.” Deputies, sergeants and lieutenants just want the backing of the department. Deputies weren’t the only ones getting spanked by McDonnell and Teran. Sergeants and Lieutenants also got spanked for stupid stuff. They ran scared too.

    Based on comments, it doesn’t appear as if any lieutenant or above isn’t any good. There are a lot of great lieutenants and sergeants on the department. I’ve worked for many. They been running scared too and were afraid. I think we should all take a deep breath and be glad the last 4 years is over. Let’s take care of each other, legally, and the community and we’ll get back to being the premier law enforcement agency we once were.

  • The Sheriff should institute mandatory patrol ride-alongs every quarter for all patrol captains, commanders and chiefs. The Sheriff should ensure they are riding on all shifts and with working deputies, not some kiss a*#, handling calls, etc. A lot of executives don’t have a clue about all the B.S. deputies deal with, the new policies (SACR), etc.

    The same should be true for custody executives.

  • Jackie Lacey needs to play nice in the sandbox as an elected official, or she just may be voted out next election.

  • 60C goes out and causes all kinds of chaos. Problem is, shiny bars don’t mean you know police work. 60C could use a 6 month training program. Not field training…maybe academy?

  • @What the…(aka “Snarky) – well said! Past time to take care of the many good staff that do the heavy lifting.

  • @ Aka “Snarky” – The dating period with AV was short, not full of chocolates and flowers. Now that the honeymoon phrase is still upon us, let’s wake up before the first major disagreement which could be anything. The needs and service to the population of Los Angeles County trumps the interdepartmental wishlist and “who’s on first”. Give A.V. time and don’t put pressure on him especially by putting the “Saviour” cap and “Batman” cape on him. Let him grow into this position and listen to the troops, all of them.

  • You jest I’m sure????

    But(t)!!! With AV carefully placing pillars from the FOR II – Vikings & Reapers stone piles in the foundation his reform will be built on top of…..

    One wonder’s how PT (Barnum) influenced HE [AV] wants this LASO re-do to be.?.?.?.?.?.

  • Madhatter: Would you prefer [winged] Sanitary Napkins?

    Perspective: I sure hope that quip doesn’t blow your hosting the Academy Awards gig replacing Kevin Hart.

  • Deputy Neil Kimball of LASD is another embarrassing line crossing incident where the protector becomes the predator, which will result in another multi million dollar payout.

  • She did Over 3 years in patrol. Facts matter.

    Celeste, why are you allowing this person’s unwarranted attack on someone to remain in print?

  • This is hearsay. I heard that one of the Assistant Sheriff’s just promoted by Alex is one of four candidates for Chief of Police for Pasadena P.D. I think this a foot in the right direction.

  • The rumors of who the new Chiefs are going to be is flying, and all I can say is “SMDH” apparently the new Sheriff is making up the rules as he goes along. He seems to think that degrees makes people smarter. I have news for you Dr. Sheriff, having your fancy degrees with no experience, is already beginning to show.

  • It’s Time: Of course you are upset and it’s understandable. The welfare train you were on has dropped you off. What is sad is that you could have done the job without all the acquiescing. I agree it’s time for you to leave. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

  • Interesting comments and if you only knew what train I have been on, you would agree with me. I have two years to go and I will sit back and watch the show. We have a lot of talent on this Department that is being overlooked by the “Dr.” He is allowing his vengeance to fog his view.

  • Sheriff talks a good game but threw Deputy Luke Liu under the bus. Shame on him. Deputies will find out and he will pay dearly.

  • It’s so nice to see all the brass crying like little “babies” as for ppoa, we all know their useless!

  • @ It’s time to go: please do us all the favor and go now. I hear that there is a LACERA shuttle that will pick you up from your workstation and back plus it’s free.

  • Daniel, you could not be more correct. The countless trophies (Deputies careers) accumulated by a culture of the more you fire the higher you go. The shameless spineless brass who are guilty of it will rot in hell in my opinion. I will never forget the progressive discipline road so many were taken down simply because a Sgt, L.T., Captain etc decided they didn’t like you. Stacking up IA’s against a Dep for crap that didn’t warrant the time or paper it was written on. Stacking up enough IA’s to eventually say the Dep is unreformable therefor the only option is termination. Then to have a chief in a civil service hearing be a bald faced liar without a conscious is as low as it get’s. What’s even more despicable is how these same people are hypocrites letting their golden boys get away with pretty much ANYTHING! Unfortunately two of the newly appointed Underlings know exactly what I mean. So working hard has nothing to do with anything. I worked with a SLAP who never wanted to hunt. He looked for warrants etc and sure enough because he was in the proverbial car moved to coveted spots and I just though WTF !! People who were extended on training who moved up as well! Why? cronyism or nepotism. The stories are many and many Deps got F’d in a big way. AV one of your appointees has no clue what police work is!! Put her back on the street and earn it!

  • This sounds like George H. Why not do everyone a favor and retire early. We’ll let you take your motorcycle with you, how’s that for a sweetheart deal. Your comments on FB and here are almost identical, moreso proves you were never a good policeman, because you keep throwing up all over yourself.

  • Not to doubt you nor to minimize your post, however time will definitely tell, usually sooner than later. I do agree that some points are out to be proved. Speaking of points, it’s always easier to point out a problem than it is to fix it. The do-over for LASD will not be easy and to be quite truthful with you, it’ll take more than 4 years. The supposedly dismantling of some changes made by Jim McDonnell is reminiscent of Trump attempting to undo what Obama did. Without going into details, Trump’s very own swamp is being drained daily. I wish Alex the best and I hope that he makes positive adjustments and changes. I know that a dual track system can be misconstrued as divisive but so does having two deputy unions along with those who are opposed to the new LASD regime as compared to the old regime. It is what it is.

  • Sad State: Seriously?

    Sworn in office 9 days ago, and your trying to float this on the new guy.

    Any chance this was the last guy and his girl Teran? You know, the ones that wanted to give 300 plus names to Jackie and call them 100% certified bad people.

    The new guy public rejected that idea the whole time.

    A close to 3 year old shooting case, that the County already settled and paid just under 2 million out to the family of the criminal in the stolen car that refused to be taken into custody without incident when contacted.

    Come on.

  • Sheriff V had nothing to do with this case. Homicide conducted their investigation and submitted this shooting to the DA TWO YEARS AGO. Alex probably received a heads-up curtsey phone call from Lacy just before the DA notified Homicide, the deputy’s attorney and the media. The DA most likely made this decision before Alex was sworn in.

    Stop with the false rumors and bogus allegations.

  • Immediately identified by his motorcycle and fear of Democrats, George H is an original Alex hater, going back to LASPA days.

  • I guarantee you the investigation, like many others, was swayed by Diana Teran, she, McBuckles and Lacey met and agreed it was a good political stunt for the benefit of all of them to get a filing. If my suspicion is correct, the case will be dissected in court, showing the deputy’s actions Reasonable.

    It comes to mind how the reputed Homicide Bureau was strong armed by McBuckles to arrest the black female suspect on the slaying of the lady in Palos Verdes, just prior to the primary election. Of course for political gain as it was McBuckles MO…

  • I just wonder who made the decision and why wait until after the election. They figured and made their decision based on the fact they believed McBuckles was unstoppable.

    I am sure that if they had known McBuckles was going to lose they would have arrested the deputy before, and use his arrest and filing as a political boost for McBuckles…he could care less about the deputy and the deputy’s family….

  • What now, I agree 100% The fire operations was a disaster, never seen it so disorganized in my 30 year career.

  • He could care less about all Sheriff’s Dept. employees, sworn or civilian. He filed to run for Sheriff at the last minute when he found out Sheriff Baca was retiring and he thought he could win. He only wanted the power of being Sheriff because he never received the power of being the LAPD Chief. Bratton saw through him and endorsed Beck as his replacement. McDonnell was LAPD through and through and felt LAPD was superior to LASD, that’s why he tried to turn our Departmemt into LAPD. He was a fake and ruined many LASD lives for four years. Everyone should just be thankful he is GONE!

  • Hopefully Sheriff Villanueva can go through every nook and cranny in regards to the death & cover-up of Mitrice Richardson upon her release at “zero dark thirty” from Calabasas Sheriff Station in 2009. We’ll see……..

  • Dear “Concerned Citizen”

    If the Sheriff completes an extremely thorough examination of the Richardson case, goes through every “nook and cranny,” and doesn’t find anything, will you and all the other conspiracy theorists finally drop it? You probably believe in Santa and Elvis is still alive and living with a Michael Jackson. Very familiar with the investigation. While incident is tragic, there’s no cover up. There never has been. There have been a lot of resources spent on the investigation, let’s use those resources toward current and relevant issues.

  • OTOH, your response might well be part of a “cover up.”

    The new Sheriff is on public record as being in accord with the idea of a new look into what happened; if the Sheriff himself thinks the case merits another look then we should let his instincts take us to….

    A while ago I took my beloved pet dog to the Vet for a medical problem. A couple of days later the Vet called & asked how my dog was doing–just checking up.

    Something like that should’ve happened here.

  • It’s been dealt with ese. Move on. Jefe, when you bringing back our RODs, they have families and chit.

  • You sound like you’re covering up for those who lied and denied during the investigation, (then) Captain Thomas Martin, Lieutenant Joseph Stevens, Lieutenant Michael Rosson & IIB Captain Rod Kusch. Her body was airlifted by LASD before the arrival of the coroner, which is highly unheard of and suspect. Baca basically attempted to kiss it off and so did Neil Tyler while Jim McDonnell totally avoided it. So with that being said, that is why a real and thorough investigation is due without the usual suspects wearing a Sheriff’s badge who attempted to clean up an awful and deadly crime.

  • LT’s getting bumped to chiefs!! Not a good thing. No experience in running a station! Now what makes you think they have the experience in running the department! What an idiot do we have as sheriff. Pretty much LT’s are now running the department. Can’t believe this specially from a guy who claims he was in the military, he should no better than that. Military would never do some shit like this.

  • Dear “Concerned citizen” this is a yes or no question. If the Sheriff looks into the case and states LASD was not complicit in Richardson’s death, will you drop the conspiracy theory and move on?

  • Based on new promotions for Chief, I can’t wait for commander and captain promotions to be announced.

  • A complete and thorough investigation including the punishment applicable for the lies and tampering of evidence by the ” Badged Players” will speak for itself.

    The only conspiracy theory that I know of is Trump having no connection with Russia and you see how that’s falling apart.

  • Can you post the list, and articulate why the people selected are not qualified to sit at an office as any division chief? It makes sense to me that they are better prepared to make decisions that they should understand better because they were not far removed from the field and day to day nuisances of the job. However, if you have solid facts to support your opinion, I would like to know…….

  • So does that mean you like the Chief’s list or not? I saw one LT plus Capts and Cmdrs. I would have liked to have seen a Sgt representative for a well rounded group. If nothing else it was different. I just wonder if on future lists people will be able to skip ranks or was this a one time deal.

  • During time of war or extreme need, the military often used battlefield promotions. If you lose a man in battle, needed to fill his position or someone showwd exemplerary performance on the battfield, it was not out of the realm of possibility for officers to “jump ranks” and non-commissioned officers” to become commissioned. An organization shouldn’t fall apart due to lose or removal of folks the top. Actions speak louder words as they say.

    Just because someone already has “bars and stars” doesn’t mean they deserved them or are worthy of a leadership position in LASD. More than likely they were somebody’s boy or girl and they became skilled at political maneuvering versus actual managing of people.

  • we are not at war plus they need more experience, let’s not be stupid about this. Been there done that and I’ve never witness a person jumping two ranks in the military.

  • I don’t agree with the new list for Chief. The new Sheriff is a wild card. Based on his Chief’s list, the commander and captain promotion list might be crazy. He might promote a deputy to captain or a sergeant to commander. The sheriff is going after people like everyone with the rank of LT and above is bad, incompetent and should retire. That’s simply not true. Lots of good people at every rank and within the professional staff ranks.

  • Going after people, how so? I think denying promotions to people who lack the experience to get the job done is an awesome idea. Sounds to me like those who have been promoted above their level of incompetence are the ones who need to worry.

  • @ LASD Promotion,
    Curious as to how Sheriff Villanueva can know the qualifications of many individuals with rank which is genuinely unique to every person is beyond me. I query how AV exhumed all of this background information while only a Lieutenant in limited assignments. Can anyone take a wild guess and give your opinion?

  • Agreed, re, staying on topic. Comments by “SHMII” who basically made mockery of a murder with hard questions being unanswered due to the fact that the suspects are sworn personnel in the Sheriff’s Department and having the gall to even bring up a conspiracy theory concerning it, is off base and disrespectful.

  • One of those new chiefs is nown “to take care of and promote his people” and those who are on his his team or have kissed his ring so to speak. I guess Sheriff Villanueva missed that.

  • @Curious,

    No one knows how AV made his decisions for promotion. Any guess would be wild. AV is a wild card. Hopefully he’ll move on to decisions that will help the line personnel (deputies, sergeants and lieutenants) very soon.

  • Call and order your PPOA drop card. Here are the numbers below.

    (323) 261-3010 Main
    (800) 747-PPOA Toll Free

    Office Hours:
    Monday through Friday
    8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

  • I just called and requested a drop card for myself and for several members in my unit! Thank you for posting thoes numbers on here! I have been a member of other unions before joining the sheriffs dept . and PPOA by far has to be the most pathetic union! Their motto should be “We Work against you! Not for you”!

  • Contact Cindy Flores for ALADS DROP CARDS.
    (323) 213-2005

    Office Hours
    Monday-Friday: 8:30am to – 5:00pm

    It’s all about choices, yours.

    Cops Legal https://www.copslegal.com

    LASPA (323) 981-2850 (Cofounder Sheriff Alex Villanueva)

  • Ughhhh… it’s looking like Chicago in the making, folks, with opposing mafia families vying for power through increasing membership. Having choices is a great thing, but it shouldn’t be this way.

  • So, you weren’t able to locate their phone number until it was posted here? I sure hope you don’t work detectives.

  • Yes, dump your certified bargaining association and join an alternate one that doesn’t sit at any table for you (contract or fringe).

    Ladies and gentlemen, wouldn’t it be just a tad better to quit complaining about PPOA and ALADS and run for their respective boards? Put up a good candidate or two next time. Change them instead of running away from them.

    Hey, even better: maybe if you have a beef with them, you could go to a meeting and talk to them face-to-face.

  • Your respective bargaining will still go on regardless of those who choose to opt out. Study the SCOTUS Janus ruling youself because your union will not tell you the details. Most members of any union are mainly dissatisfied with the political plays with their payola, ALADS would be king of that. Basically all you need is legal representation. The bargaining associations will still exist and fight for you however they won’t have the extra’s to put in some candidates pocket.

  • @ Dose of reality, yes I thought the same thing and your reply was hilarious. However, PPOA does suck. It only cares about unit 612 (I.e. management). All other units within PPOA get screwed. I feel really bad for all other units within PPOA.

  • I agree dump PPOA and then de-certify after the contract ends. Get a union that belongs to the LA COUNTY AFL-CIO. ALADS for sworn and AFSCME council 36 for unit 621 (c/a’s, so’s, sa’s).

  • @union facts, i agree regarding just needing legal representation. Why not just join laspa if that’s all we really need. I know a lot of ppoa members hate ppoa.

  • When I became a Deputy I was very happy to join ALADS. PPOA never did anything for us when I was a Custody Assistant. Hahahhahahaahha

  • I’m well aware of Janus. And now we’re well aware of the welfare state mentality you are espousing. Our bargaining association will only remain while they are funded and supported. If you’re advocating decertifying ALADS and having LASPA certified, you’d be right back in the same boat over night. These organizations are run by us and a few expert staff.

    Again, we’re back to what I suggested: run some folks you want on the board or go work things out with our current board members. Political donations is a separate issue not relevant to this discussion.

  • There’s a reason why Alex Villanueva started LASPA after breaking away from ALADS. That reason still exists.

  • Great to see Sheriff Villanueva on the cover of both, the “Star & Shield” along with “ALADS Dispatcher”.

  • I just don’t see AV pics for chief as the best possible choices. Just look at the employee numbers. Some don’t fit the stringent criteria he stated would be required if you wanted to be a captain. Terms for sergeant and lieutenant and working fast station, time in both custody and patrol. Do these pics all check those boxes? Nope.

    AV stated a couple of current commander choices would not have been captains since they had significant discipline in their history. Isn’t one of his chief choices a captain who was demoted from commander captain from TSB. Would love to see the complete resumes on these stellar pics. AV should prove to the troops that these are the best choices for the department. But there is only one sheriff, everybody else is just a deputy.

    I think the department has a tremendous amount of talent that was overlooked. For the personnel who have done their whole career without significant discipline, who showed up to work and did their job to the best of their abilities, who strayed away from the political arena of the top brass, well, nothing for you. AV seems to be trying to right all the wrongs. This must be why [Edit] was holding the sheriff’s badge during his swearing in.

    Why promote anybody. Take all the bars and stars off, real leaders will emerge from the ashes.

    For those still working, I really hope AV moves the department forward and not backward. I would really hate to pull up WitnessLa one morning only to find out that the feds have taken over the sheriff’s department.

  • @ Dose of Reality: Be advised that political donations ARE in fact part of this discussion. Where in the hell do you think that money comes from? If you were fully aware of the Janus case, you would indeed know that political donations were opposed to by many members, thus being the crux of the whole case. Facts are your friend.

  • @Union Fact

    Again, I am familiar with Janus, and you are not quite as familiar. You’re close as far as the objection to political donations. But the underlying beef was the closed shop that forced employees to make said donations.

    Again, this issue was not what we were discussing. You moved the goal posts and didn’t even realize it. 😉

  • Side lines, you have your opinions and it does not seem you are a fired executive trying to sabotage. However, the “federales” should have taken over when the McBuckles/Terán regime was framing his own deputies up, for stats purposes. If you work in the sheriff’s department you well know that IAB/ICIB were being order to get creative to work on the gray sort of speak and make cases against them little deputies. IAB/ICIB and the executives did just that, they conceal evidence in violation of Brady vs Maryland, coached witnesses, misrepresented the facts and a lot more to make sure a deputy got filed on and ultimately fired. It would be nice if the “federales” would look into it, but they won’t because here the victims were deputies not career criminals.

    Now, it does worry me that Alex’s enemies, the media, the political mafia the ones who lost the bet against Alex can come up with something to see a Hispanic sheriff fail or worse.

    As far as [Edit] holding the badge what is it to you, why does it bother you, are you so perfect? Throw the first rock but show the hand and your name.

    Finding [Edit] phone number is not that difficult, give him a call and ask him to tell you about his story, he may change your mind.

  • Hey 924, if you were right there what did you do to speak about the injustice against [Edit]? You must have been one of the crooked deputies who wanted a browney point and just went along with it…

  • Celeste, please remove any comments that contain an individuals name. These people are trying to demean and speak false rumors about individuals who have families that can be affected by false rumors.

    924, you’re a punk for throwing anyone’s name out on a public blog. You should not do that to any of our partners. Real tasteless.

  • @ Dose of Reality,
    Your superfluous retorts in attempts to dissuade union members who read this post from opting out will never over rule the Janus Decision. The bottom line is that no one should be stronged armed to remain in a union against their will, which basically is kidnapping with a ransom. Introduce your perusing to the Taft- Hartly Act 1947. Greed and malfeasance has broken the backbone and true spirit of union membership. Much thanks to Justice Neil Gorsuch.

  • Alleging IAB/ICIB withholding evidence and falsifying statements is like Joe citizens alleging that all cops plant evidence and lie on their reports.

  • Not all, but more than a few. Keep it real and don’t act like it doesn’t happen nor that it hasn’t happened.

  • If I were ever stonewalled, framed, falsely accused, I would’ve raised hell and filed suit. I’m sure there have been sloppy investigations and what-not (as does happen everyday in patrol settings), as well as deputy personnel either got their job back or not depending on the outcome of subsequent civil service hearings. I’m not directly involved or a party of any of such, so I can’t and won’t speculate on these aforementioned cases or make umbrella statements. What was that old saying … When we assume, we make an ASS- out of -U- and -ME. Respecfully…

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