On Tuesday, October 1, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to hold LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva accountable for a “ballooning” $63.4 million budget deficit. They did so by temporarily freezing department officials’ spending and their ability to hire certain administrative, non-sworn personnel. During the freeze, the department is required to work with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Auditor-Controller, and County Counsel to come up with a budget deficit mitigation plan — a plan that the CEO’s Office repeatedly requested from the LASD over the last year, without success. In the interim, the deficit continued to grow.
Finally, the issue came to a head as the county supervisors, CEO, and Auditor-Controller worked to balance last year’s budget.
The motion, authored by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl, noted that the sheriff’s department is not the only agency that provides legally mandated critical services to the public. Like the leaders of the county’s other 37 departments, they wrote, the sheriff must fulfill those public services while following the county’s “budgetary guidelines.”
“When Departments fall short, the gap must be covered by the County General Fund – which ultimately means that other County priorities go unfunded,” the motion states. These priorities include housing and other social services that benefit vulnerable groups, like transition-age foster youth and homeless individuals. It also means less funding for healthcare initiatives, childcare, and domestic violence survivors, Supervisor Solis said during the meeting.
The hiring and spending freeze, Solis said, “is not about taking away the safety and security of our neighborhoods. This is in no way a message to say that we don’t want to see cops on the beat.”
The point that the motion won’t negatively impact public safety is one that several board members rushed to make clear.
The motion, in fact, does not affect the department’s ability to hire sworn officers, custody assistants, security officers, or those in forensics. It only affects certain administrative and clerical positions.
The message is, however, that the sheriff’s department, all other county departments, and the supervisors must be “careful stewards” of the taxpayers’ money, Solis said.
“This isn’t the only department we’ve had this problem with,” she added.
But, Solis said, the sheriff’s department’s deficit has been the most “staggering” she’s seen in her time on the board.
Several of the board members offered assurances that the motion was not a personal attack on the sheriff, with whom the board has had a strained relationship for nearly the entirety of Villanueva’s nine-plus months as sheriff.
Yet the board’s move began to sound personal at certain moments on Tuesday, as various supervisors offered several sharp criticisms.
“We have 38 departments,” Supervisor Kuehl told Sheriff Villanueva. “Only one of them has ended the year with a deficit.”
Other departments that “could have been headed that way,” sought help from the CEO early, before the situation became too dire. “We say here are steps you can [take to] avoid a deficit,” Kuehl said to Villanueva.
“Put on your big boy pants and take those steps…”
All the other departments managed to avoid landing in the budgetary hole, said Kuehl. “I’m looking at the fire chief sitting out in the audience. If anybody had extra expenses this year, he did.”
So How Bad Is the LASD’s Overspending Problem?
The LA County Sheriff’s Department went over its $3.5 billion budget by $90,245,683 million during fiscal year 2018-2019.
The supervisors approved approximately $26.8 million to cover unexpected litigation and Woolsey Fire-related costs from last year.
This has left a $63.4 million overrun. Most of that deficit can be traced back to high spending on overtime and “under-realized revenue,” the motion states. (Under-realized revenue, according to county CEO Sachi Hamai, includes grants and contracts the department was expected to obtain, but did not, or failed to apply for.)
Budgetary woes are not exactly new to the department, which has been led by Sheriff Alex Villanueva since December 2018. By April 2018, then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell was on schedule to close out fiscal year 2017-2018, with budget overspending of just over $40 million. That deficit dropped to $19.5 million by the end of the fiscal year, with help from the CEO and a budget deficit mitigation plan.
On several occasions since December 2018, when Sheriff Villanueva took office, however, the county has called on sheriff’s officials to produce such a “budget mitigation plan” to cover the running deficit and to safeguard the department against future overspending, according to Tuesday’s motion.
Sheriff Villanueva failed to fulfill those requests.
Thus, the supervisors forced the issue.
While sheriffs have long overspent when it came to overtime in particular, the board noted that prior to McDonnell’s $19.5 million deficit in 2017-2018, department officials had successfully balanced the budget by the end of each year. For fiscal years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 the LASD ended the budget cycle with $15.7 million and $9 million in surplus, respectively.
An amendment to Tuesday’s motion via Supervisor Janice Hahn, aims to address the overtime problem by asking the Acting Auditor-Controller and CEO to work with the Inspector General to conduct a review focused on areas that the LASD could be more efficient in its use of overtime and other operations.
“Fund the True Cost” of Public Safety, Says Villanueva
When it was the sheriff’s time to speak, he told the board that he welcomed any reviews of his operations and “constructive criticism,” but also urged the board to “fund the true cost of providing the critical services we do across all of our patrol, investigative, security, and custodial obligations that cover the entire county of Los Angeles.”
That true cost of public safety in LA County, according to Villanueva is $3.9 billion, not the $3.5 billion the agency received last year.
The LASD is “currently the most understaffed law enforcement agency in the United States,” Sheriff Villanueva said, “with 816 sworn vacancies and a per capita deputy to resident ratio of 0.9 deputies for every 1,000 residents, which is two and a half times LESS than the national average of 2.5.” Plus, he said, $47 million of the deficit was “inherited” from McDonnell, who left office last December. That inherited deficit “coupled with structural deficits in trial court funding, sworn vacancies, retiree healthcare, and unfunded mandates, leaves us severely underfunded as well,” Villanueva said.
After delivering his remarks, Villanueva said that he had “other appointments” he had to attend, and left precipitously, leaving Undersheriff Tim Murakami, Budget Director Conrad Meredith, and Director of Personnel Captain John McBride to answer any further questions.
Budgetary Shortfalls
Conrad Meredith told the board that the reason the LASD failed to “make budget last year” was due to “unfunded structural shortfalls” that “keep increasing.”
Worker’s compensation, for example, Meredith said, “has increased 30 percent in the last five years, so now we’re $45 million short in that one particular category.”
Supervisor Janice Hahn interjected to ask whether Meredith had been present in various county budget meetings. The budget director responded in the affirmative.
“So what communication did you have with not only our staff, but with the CEO” as well, “to address what you just said?” asked Hahn.
Meredith said that his team had been working with the CEO, but that “as soon as we try to put money towards closing the gap, the budget increases again.”
Things like increased costs for worker’s compensation and retiree health, Hahn replied, are not “unique to the sheriff’s department,” and should have been addressed sooner. “It’s obvious that you knew” that such shortfalls were “an issue,” Hahn said. “Maybe the audit is going to help address that.”
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas agreed and said that he was glad to support Hahn’s amendment to include the audit on the sheriff’s spending and efficiency with overtime and other systems. But all departments have a budget, he said, even the supervisors themselves, and “have to live within the boundaries” of their budgets.
“There are checks and balances with which we must contend,” Ridley-Thomas told the sheriff, in a slightly scolding tone. “So any implication that this is unusual in terms of calling this department to account is just simply unsubstantiated.”
Ron Hernandez, President of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, emphatically did not agree, and told the board that the way they were choosing to hold the department accountable by freezing hiring, and thus, according to Hernandez, “cutting public safety” was “irresponsible.”
“It forces impossible choices, like who will or will not get service when they call 911, which deputies will or will not get critical training, which jail block will go understaffed tonight,” Hernandez said.
Various members of the community and advocate organizations, in contrast, called for increased oversight of the sheriff’s budget and expressed concern that the board appeared to be considering increasing funding, in general, for the sheriff’s department — funding that would be better spent on community programs that keep people out of the criminal justice system in the first place.
For now, Sheriff Villanueva will be required to return to the board quarterly to give a progress report “to ensure [the sheriff’s department] operates within the Board-adopted budget,” according to the motion.
Meanwhile, $143.7 million in department funds will be frozen and unavailable to the department until the mitigation plan is in effect.
Top Image: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and department officials address the Board of Supervisors. Courtesy of Frank Stoltze.
Please tell me when the BOS will develop a payment plan for themselves to pay back the 80 million dollars they wasted on the McCarthy jail project. Dont worry…I wont hold my breath.
Is that the facility Sheriff Villanueva publicly opposed?
What a photo…fat, sloppy, slouching. They look like bad boys in the principals office. Conrad is the only good man in the group, but even he is a little out of his league in his current position. Murakami is either looking at his phone or his gut, wondering if a longer tie might help. Villanueva is trying to think of a way to leave, which, AMAZINGLY, he did…for “other appointments.” I wonder what could be more important than meeting with the BOS to discuss the BUDGET for his Department.
Dismiss the Department’s top executives and replace them with lieutenants, insult and alienate your entire command staff within days of being elected, immediately begin insulting the people who control your money and declare war on them, investigate the body that provides oversight of your Department, bring back a guy who NOBODY thinks shoulda been brought back, allow two badly needed jail projects to die, abandon two newly-renovated locations (HOJ and Biscailuz Center) because they were legacies of former Sheriff’s who kept you down, dismiss your newly appointed top aides when they tell you the truth…and on and on. Shocking that the Board is now publicly humiliating the guy who heads what was once a proud organization.
The picture perfectly captures what the LASD has become.
Is the BOS really try to send a message to LASD and the current Sheriff to fix a problem thstveas years in the making, they overlooked for years and did not care about under the former Sheriff? So unfair to feign outrage and blame the current Sheriff for a problem he inherited. I still have a copy of the report from last year showing the Department was over budget by $60 million then. The BOS or BS was okay with all the money the former Sheriff wasted in changing uniforms, fonts and on board with building a replacement jail under the former Sheriff.
Frankly, the BOS is just upset that Sheriff Villeneuva stands up to them unlike his yes man predecessor. The BOS has a personnel grudge against the person elected by the people to head LASD. Is the board racist against the first Latino Sheriff, absolutely and who are they ultimately hurting by witholding money from the Department…..the citizens of LA County.
Anything good to say, any alternatives or remedies? Who else to blame? Do you agree that someone from the outside can better?
O Great One aka Apostle Google, enlighten us with your answer for everything.
Anything good to say, any alternatives or remedies? Who else to blame? Do you agree that someone from the outside can better?
O Great One aka Apostle Google, enlighten us with your answer for everything.
@Apostle, you’ve pinned the tail on the donkey. End of discussion.
Honestly, Curious….I don’t think this ship can be saved. He’d have to give up his Mandoyan crusade, make nice with the BOS (probably impossible at this point), make nice with the media, demote the lieutenants who are now chiefs, and assistant sheriffs, promote captains and commanders and chiefs who were passed up, apologize to all his managers for his idiotic, brass-snatching, tear-down Tuesday, end his investigation of the OIG and end his blood vendetta against all those he feels kept him from promoting…..none of which will happen.
I think this guy is headed for some sort of reckoning. It’s just disgusting that he’ll take the Department down (further) with him.
As I’ve said before, I was NO fan of McDonnell, but just like Trump has made me nostalgic for the Bush years, I long for a competent (albeit flawed) Sheriff.
Historically the Sheriff’s Department goes over budget every year. They need to hold their stations and units accountable for their spending. Creating unfunded special project cars, units, or positions only sends you down the rabbit hole. The Department has never tried to be conservative with its money, but it is very expensive to supply law enforcement officers, their equipment, and their services and supplies.
Some years the department makes a decision to try and return injured employees back to work so they can work “light duty” positions in order to free up able bodied folks to full duty positions. Don’t know if thats happening or if they just let them sit at home. People who are injured and ultimately going to retire as a result of their injuries means the department cannot fill behind them until their item number is freed up, meaning they retire. So some of those positions need to be filled and resources are taken from other areas to keep the ship moving forward.
Sometimes laws, regulations, and BOS request require additional staffing or supervision which often does not get extra funding to accomplish. This pushes the budget further towards zero. The department has used the same old statement, “Do more with less”.
As for the picture, not very flattering. They never are. Reporters take hundred of pictures and almost always used the worst looking one to help prove a point.
BTW, Curious, don’t mistake my criticism of Villanueva as implying that I could run this Department. I could not. That’s why I didn’t run for the position. I have neither the command experience nor the energy to do the job.
But…if I found myself in his position, I would NOT have made the poor decisions he’s made. Most of them really ARE self inflicted wounds.
During the campaign, he posted on his website a Departmental memo he wrote to, I believe, most of the command staff of the Department making his argument as to why he should have been promoted. In 30 years, I’ve never HEARD, let alone seen, anything like it. As I read it, I realized this guy had an axe to grind and that there was something wrong with him. I was right.
This meeting was a NO WIN for the sheriff. Even if AV had done everything perfect financially, this is nothing more than the BOS making the sheriff understand that he answers to them. The good old power struggle.
@ Curious,
So we can’t criticize the Sheriff unless we have a solution? That sounds like a cheap manipulation tactic used to shut down dissenting opinions.
I have one solution: Drop the Carl Mandoyan case. Don’t take it to trial. Don’t waste millions of tax dollars on sneaky Carl because he is dirty and NOT worth it. But this Sheriff can’t drop Carl, and therein lies the rub.
What a tangled web…
This is not an endorsement for the BOS. A pathetic crew if there ever was one. But sometimes you have to negotiate with the worst to get the job done, and this Sheriff can’t do that. This Sheriff will cripple the entire Department over a deal he made with the Devil.
LASD Apostle is right. Marakami needs a longer tie!
It’s kind of ironic that the BOS want to be in charge of everything in LA County. Yet when something bad happens, like the recent issue involving little Noah and the DCFS, they are never at fault. I will agree with AV, the LASD is supposed to work with the BOS, NOT for them.
The BOS think they are untouchable. Just last week, the entire BOS for a county in Virginia was just indicted on multiple charges. Maybe theres a little hope for LA County.
Side Lines, Skippy and Apostle – good points all. The budget is a very complicated for an agency this size. It is notable that workers comp incidents are markedly up over the last five years. I would suspect that this tends to increase when morale is poor.
While the budget does need to be addressed by the Sheriff, appalled that Kuehl said “Put on your big boy pants and take those steps…” How rude to make a statement like that to anyone in a public hearing, much less the Sheriff.
As for the photo, they all look like they are facing execution. When I took a second look, I realized that even in the background there are many people looking down at phones. A sign of the of the times but not appropriate when you are sitting right in front of the Board on an agenda item.
LASD A:
Pitchess was fat, Block was very fat, Waldie was obese, McDonnel was fat and this picture shows nothing. But, LASD should enforce weight and health standards.
I do agree that Sheriff AV should work with the BOS and see how to improve things. These audits are nothing new. Every sheriff from Biscailuz to AV have issues with the budget. Why? Because most sergeants and supervisors just sign off without ever looking into what they are signing!!
Sheriff AV inherited this mess and he will get the benefit of the doubt for now. Perhaps we should hire James Comey of Bob Mueller to investigate? Nah! This was the Russians fault! LOL
You are so right. I agree with all of your points. I aso believe, that if, the top brass is fired, LASD would get the message.
Curious:
George Gascon just resigned up in San Francisco as D.A., ostensibly to come down to Los Angeles County to run against Jackie Lacy as L.A. County D.A. because she is out of favor with local Democrats & won’t get their support in the next election.
Inasmuch as Gascon formerly was Police Chief of San Francisco & was a Chief in the LAPD the position of Los Angeles County Sheriff beckons if things don’t work out with Lacy.
Full particulars on Gascon can be Googled: Gascon resigns as San Francisco D.A.
First Latino Sheriff?
If you research Sheriff’s of Los Angeles County of Hispanic Descent, he is listed there, as well as, Tomas Avila Sanchez, Martin Aquirre, Eugene W. Biscailuz, and Leroy Baca. Of course we can split hairs:
“Hispanic” focuses on Spanish-speaking origin. This means Spain is included, but Brazil is not because Brazilians speak Portuguese. “Latino” refers to people of Latin American origin. This includes Brazil and excludes Spain.
The BOS are not racists, just control freaks when it suits their agenda.
The beginning of many more payouts for continuing to cover up the deep rooted corruption. We’ll see how they handle the few problematic kids at ELA station with no direction. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-04/jury-reaches-verdict-in-industry-deputys-retaliation-lawsuit
Hated reading the details of that lawsuit but am not surprised. Years ago a friend’s husband decided to join and his FTO played fast and loose with the truth. Bothered him so much he left the department. There is no excuse for this crap. In addition to being unlawful and violating the trust of the public, it is simply not that hard to make a legal arrest. Why people engage in this type of behavior is just mind boggling.
Question…..why aren’t the 2 current county law suits being mentioned on WLA. In regards to the 2 lawsuits by deputies.
What a joke. This dude was weak. Hate the new sheriff, hate the last sheriff, whatever. Simple fact is this dip stick who was failing patrol training didn’t deserve 8 million dollars. So now any deputy who can’t cut it can just cry and sue. Patrol will be a joke.
Board of supervisors are clowns. They are mad they can’t control the sheriff department in a way they see fit. Hopefully the she does not cave and just add to the deficit that the dumb supervisors have created as a control tool.
More to boggle the mind:
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1676072.html
This is the Darren Hager case, and more on THAT can be found by Googling “Darren Hager, LASD.”
The plaintiffs (at least one) are very problamatic but no person wants to talk about that idiot.
Let’s face facts. AV is facing a BOS that is not friendly to law enforcement in the first place in principle (with one exception), are amateurs when it comes to the governing the County of Los Angeles (thanks to term limits) and (understandably, IMO) very much dislike what he has done since he has assumed office as Sheriff. The majority, if not all, no doubt, would love nothing better than to run him out of office ASAP; be it by resignation (which will NEVER happen), first term ballot, or recall.
In other words, AV is up against a stacked deck when it comes to the BOS. He has two ways to handle this situation; he can do his best to keep them from having any ammunition in their efforts against him or he can stonewall them and fight them at every turn. There is no half-way in this battle of wills due to the existing animosity. Fight them or remove their ammo.
The current “battle” is the budget situation, which is not something AV created. Everyone (except the public) knows it belongs to the previous Sheriff. Likewise, it is not something that past Sheriffs have not faced. Past boards have been flexible with previous Sheriffs and worked with them. Sometimes they have not – hiring freezes are nothing new to the LASD. This time, and for AV’s term of office, they will NOT.
So does AV continue his fantasy that the world is picking on him because of this or that leaving his only recourse is to complain and fight or does he man-up and shut the BOS yaps by showing them he can do the job by tightening the Department’s belt, by REALLY cleaning up that mess at ELA and by dropping that damn anchor around his neck, Carl Mandoyan. Short of those things, AV is going to make those BOS knuckleheads (being kind here) very happy when they see him riding out of town on a rail.
Good read. I’m sure if Neal Tyler was involved, Hager got done dirty. Neal Tyler is an idiot and corrupt. Let’s not forget, he’s also Diana Teran’s man.
LASD Apostle, your hatred of our sheriff is duly noted. You may want to seek professional help for that. You could also invest in a little Google search and read how your hero McBuckles warned the BOS in November of last year that the deficit was going to be 101.8 million dollars and he was soothed by none other than Sachi Hamai, telling the media that it was out of his control, blah blah blah. You could also do a little more research (I know, this requires initiative you may not have) and find out that McBuckles raided the S&S fund to mask the true size of the deficit every year, with devastating consequences for the department. Maintenance, capital projects, replacing aged out critical equipment, simple stuff like forcing employees to bring in their own toilet paper and leaving inmates without soap, you know the basics of a competent administration. Now our sheriff is stuck with a horrible situation that the BOS manipulates like an expert, knowing fools like you will carry their water.
Most people make the mistake of underestimating Sheriff V, and they wind up losing in the end. The list keeps getting longer, so keep betting on the hand you have and the hand you think our sheriff has. By the way, fat shaming in of itself is a sign of immaturity.
Hooray for Deputy Rodriguez! The truth eventually came out, despite the top names on the defensive side.
Some Sheriff FTO’S are full of shit and very overrated. I believe Rodriguez.
From a business perspective, it is imperative to hold costs and expenses down and try to work within the allotted budget. However, this budget deficit is not new to this current administration, or for that matter, other administrations. In my opinion, this was a purposely, choreographed attack on the Sheriff, in a continual effort to undermine and besmirch the Sheriff.
Costs have ballooned out of control for a variety of reasons (i.e., overtime, Wrkmns. Comp. etc.) and the Sheriff is the scapegoat. The Sheriff inherited some of the budgetary woes from the previous administration and may have also contributed to it. Nonetheless, it is the responsibility of everyone involved to mitigate and head off any potential short comings as they begin to develop and not wait to make a spectacle of the situation.
For the BOS to stand on their soap box and preach / castigate the Sheriff on how he should run the department, is at best a “dog and pony show.” I do not recall Mc D being shamed and humiliated when he was running a deficit. Further, when Mc D decided to upgrade to a Tahoe (with all the bells & whistles), while not following the procurement process. Furthermore, when it cost the taxpayers $300k, to convert from chrome to brass keepers and belt buckles etc., etc.
The hypocrisy of the BOS is astounding. Solis stated, “that the sheriff’s department, all other county departments, and the supervisors must be “careful stewards” of the taxpayers’ money.”
I would presume that cancelling a mental health facility at a cost of $80M, while also allocating approximately $1M to a legal defense fund for illegal immigrants is being “careful stewards of the taxpayers money?”
I am not defending AV. What I am doing, is bringing to the surface (which most of us know), the hypocrisy , mendacity and disdain that the BOS has towards the Sheriff, the Dept. and the taxpayers of L.A. County.
Regarding the Rodriguez vs L.A. County verdict, h is former Training Officer (Arcos) was last known to promote to Sgt and is now at East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station, ground zero of the Bandito’s.
Say what you want but denying that some T.O.’s
are reckless only escalates the problem. Again, Hooray for Deputy Rodriguez, enjoy life and buy a new 2020 Corvette with personal car plates saying THXLASD 🙂
L.A. Imposter/ Apostle fluctuates with riding the fence. He throws out the “”Son of Immigrants” card to fit in but yet he blasts Sheriff Villanueva and his anti-ICE stance.
Imposter/Apostle “gets in” where he can “fit in”. What a joke!
@Temple and Broadway- AV was for the jail. He would’ve preferred certain things to be changed about it. But ultimately he was for it.
@Cowboy- I think the license plate should read CTYDIME
I still support Sheriff Villanueva 100%, and I know a lot of people hated him, way prior to him winning the election, so, that won’t be changed. Alex Villanueva will eventually be successful and do what he can do best for the workers in the Sheriff’s department.
Anyone who knows Arcos, or Nakamura, especially their trainees, would most likely agree with Andrew Rodriguez if they could, however, the repercussion would be detrimental to their careers. Anyone on the sheriff’s department knows what happens when reporting wrongdoing by the protected deputies or higher-ups, the sheriff’s squads at ICIB/IAB will go after them, spy, follow until they can fabricate something against the reporting deputy, as they did with Andrew. As far as George Meza’s actions, all I can say he was probably asked to write what he wrote.
Regarding Captain Murakami, it would be my opinion he is a good man, who was probably told by the training sergeant (RIP) and the master FTO, they had it under control. Murakami most like trusted his underlings, and had no choice but to back them up, at the end of the day he should take responsibility and move on. I went to the ALADS website to look for the “Leadership Assessment” regarding Sheriff’s Captains and found some negative comments on the dispatcher page 54, regarding Murakami. He may have been in retirement mode and missed the signs. https://alads.blob.core.windows.net/wfiles/dispatcher/pdf/pdf_XXXV_6.pdf
I am happy for Andrew, he stood up to the bullies and won. We can argue and debate Andrew’s abilities, attitude toward patrol training and whatnot, the fact is he was wronged, and the people involved should have known when to stop.
@ BrainTree: Exactly, No one could have said it better.
AV was against the jail. He publicly denounced it in January in an interview on ABC7. He only changed his tune and was in favor of the jail due to the BOS battle that began after that interview.
@cowboy I don’t
@ Fake News,
LASD T.O.’s eventually will have a training manual with a asterisk * noting Andrew RODRIGUEZ’S court case, to warn the assholes who think they can get away with bullshit. Andrew will be laughing all the to the bank.
@Brain Tree……there will definitely be more law suits. Some folks are sick and tired of being unfairly treated on this damn department.
You are correct. Another big case coming down the pike is Deputy D’Andre Lampkin suing the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for retaliation. November 4, 2019 is trial date.
It’s one thing to be treated unfairly. It’s another to be an incompetent insecure poser who thinks everyone owes him everything. Then when you can’t get your way you go and sue. Worse when you are one of the sleaziest deps on the department and now all of a sudden you want to sue. So sad that the public doesn’t know what this key plaintiff is all about. Sad that this loser managed to convince some deps to follow his lead.
Exactly what trials are all about–to out the truth. About 90% of plaintiffs who initiate a lawsuit have valid cases; that is what my daughter, who is a practicing attorney, tells me, and I believe her.
No better venue to bring out the truth than a Court of Law.
FYI:
More on that
ourweekly.com/news/2017/aug/24/deputy-dandre-lampkin-sues-county/
Full particulars can be found by Googling “D’Andre Lampkin v. County of Los Angeles.”
Are you referring to a currently employed disgruntled idiot who is off training and has been for some time?
@ Cognistator,
You are correct. As with the winner Andrew Rodriguez, let the public be aware and allow the court to decide. Unfortunately all of the haters didn’t leave with Baca and Tanaka.
Hater’s as in some commenter’s.
Wonder what you of WLA will say, after the Lampkin’s case is heard. Funny how if you stand up for yourself your made out to be disgruntled and incompetent.
BINGO!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailybreeze.com/2009/05/10/deputy-aims-to-be-tall-tales-champ/amp/
Maybe Lampkin told a “tall tale” on this one as well.
Sour Deez, you can’t make this stuff up! Oh wait, that’s the whole point!
He (lanolin) is a dumb ass. But the main problem is that 80% of the Dept is horrible. And lazy horrible turds tend to back eachother up and finger point at the others. The court of law is the now the court of opinion, nothing is fact based. Therefore the lazy turd will make money because the public believes the narrative. At the end of the day all the bickering and selfishness of certain individuals will continue to destroy the once proud and respected LASD.
But the lazy turds will never admit their faults and always point fingers. It’s like Homer Simpson looking in the mirror and seeing a buff Homer and not the real Fat Homer.
The profession of an honorable, humble, selfless, hero once known as a Deputy Sheriff is damn near gone and over shadowed by the many selfish people. That includes the people on top and people that comment on here but stay silent at work. Despicable and shameful.
Probably not, as a judge said that there were “triable issues” in the case
theavtimes.com/2019/09/11/judge-rules-deputy-can-take-whistleblower-case-to-trial/
I am curious, though–what aspect here might you think to be a “tall tale?”
The story can be Googled: D’Andre Lampkin, LASD.
Simmer down toughie. The judge ruled on a summary judgement that there is triable issues. Doesn’t mean anything has been proven If he is such a noble guy, why did he wait until a complaint was filed on him? Why not arrest the guy for having sex in public and and let the chips fall where they may. Oh wait, cause that means he would have to work.
The questions you ask sound like “triable issues”; lessee what comes out in court.
Was it noble and honorable of LASD attempting to intimidate FBI Agent Leah Marx?, resulting in the intimdators getting their ass kicked in a zero dark thirty raid on their homes and proven to be liars in Federal Court.
Your current Sheriff Villanueva is no stranger with personal lawsuits prior to becoming Sheriff. If 80% of LASD is horrible, what’s your point.
I don’t know the whole circs of this case, but I do know that Mr. Lampkin’s is a very smart, bright, intelligent educated individual. Folks will always tare a man down to get their own personal agendas accomplished.
Can’t wait to see what you all write about the next law suit that will be filled within the next 30 days. Once it’s filled Ill send the haters his address and see who dares to pull up.
People are tired of keeping their mouths shut only to get bullied by the many assholes of this department. At some point a man has to stand for something or just keep getting pushed around.
Like I’ve said many times before, many of you judge but have never walked in another mans shoes.
The department don’t always get things right, civil service shady ass surely doesn’t get things right, but one does hope that a jury would get things right when someone has been done wrong.
Many of these internet gangstas have not been screwed over, some of which may have been the screwer……but there are a lot of innocent deps that have become victims to the corruption of LASD.
Just my take,
Or maybe he didn’t, do you know this man. Have you ever talked with him or crossed his path, have you ever went to a call with him, called him on the phone, the radio, sent an email, had a cup or 2 with the man. Keep digging, if you may. Doesn’t change the narrative at hand.
We all know this BS happens on the department, most have been trained to turn and look away.
Many individuals continue to only look out for themselves when their brother is being torn down, well those days are changing and more folks are going to start coming out with their truths.
Just Wait, Watch n Listen. Stand by 2 stand by. Brotherhood, Family…..LoL. Brothers pick each other up, assist on calls, help out in the field……not take shells from shot guns n falsify reports.
Lets be honest, patrol isn’t for everyone, but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help, aide or assist your partner.
Enough is enough and more individuals need to stand and let their truths be told.
Stay Blessed,
Good post!!
I agree with The Truth, it’s no longer facts that drive litigation, but how best to exploit public sentiment. That $8.1 million dollar judgment is probably going to appealed successfully in that the plaintiff really can’t show damages that equate to that astronomical figure. 80% of LASD being horrible seems like a pretty high figure, I’d guess maybe 5-10% who still believe in the Tanaka way of doing business and have not yet retired. If I’m not mistaken, Villanueva’s lawsuit was against the Tanaka regime at it’s peak of power, and the CCJV confirmed what he alleged years later.
Getting back to the topic at hand, the CEO is brazenly lying about the LASD budget at the behest of the BOS and she can’t reconcile past statements with her current position. One of her slides shows the budget deficit at ZERO in December of 2018, which is impossible.
I saw the interview, and you are misquoting the sheriff. He was against merely replacing MCJ with another jail, and he pushed the board towards the MHTC project. All parties were fully aware of the need to improve the conditions of confinement for those already in the care of the LASD, and the MHTC project did just that. It was the BOS pulling a spite move on the sheriff, to the tune of blowing $80 million in penalties plus who knows what in 10 years of planning, that destroyed the project.
Speaking of appeals and showing damages, maybe you can school ALADS.
They are appealing a case in when they won, (BC540789) but they haven’t nor can they justify the 2 plus million that they spent.
It’s never questioned becomes members aren’t aware and ALADS goal is to silently tiptoe their loss to avoid controversy.
Greed is the chopping block for many people and organizations while those who are actually paying for it are asleep.
Since Keep Dreaming wants to discourage replies that point out the inaccuracy in their statement, Villanueva was asked directly if he supported a new jail. His answer in that moment was he did not support it until he can assess if the facility is needed or if he can eliminate it altogether. Here’ I’ll give you a quote, straight from the donkeys mouth. “Do we need to replace the jail, do we need to eliminate it entirely.”
Mr Folks. The point of the comment was honesty. Don’t diminish that by trying to associate it with something else, like the old regime. It’s been that way for while now. It’s people like you that can’t let things go and move on. Let it go. The Past is there and all we have is the current and the future. Either help make it better or leave. The fact is the dept has probably never been perfect and never will be. But the thing I know for a FACT is that the selfishness needs to stop. People need to grow up.
Regarding the LASD story teller. Maybe I’m old, but in reflecting on what I can discern from what I’ve read, it sounds like the original “offense” that Deputy Lamkin “reported” was …………………..how do I put it……………was, um……..not that big of deal (no disrespect to the retiree’s parts). Maybe the retiree didn’t handle it all that well and maybe they got in to a little bit of a rhubarb. Don’t know. But on a scale of one to ten, this doesn’t register very high from my experiences as a W/C to get excited about.
So, had I been the W/C, I guess I would have ended up on Lamkin’s shit list (not the first Deputy shit list because they didn’t like my decisons) because I would have told Lamkin to submit a memo to the Captain and let it go at that. I would not have cared who the retiree knew or didn’t know, although, I also admit, if this retiree was known to be “well connected”, I certainly would have told Lamkin before he wanted to pursue the matter. Reality is reality and sorry to those who wish it were otherwise (picture Carl Mandoyan in the parked car!!) No matter, I take it that Lamkin didn’t like the W/C’s approach and I don’t think he would have cared for mine either.
Now that I’ve confessed, I know I won’t be on his jury because I’ve already formed my opinion of Lamkin as a whiner and sniveler. If this makes me horrible, so be it.
It’s officially the Whistleblowers movement! ‘Connected taxpayers’ got breaks with L.A. County assessor’s office, whistleblowers allege
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-08/connected-taxpayers-got-breaks-with-l-a-county-assessors-office-whistleblowers-allege
Believe me, You lost all credibility when you stated that 80% of LASD is horrible, no truth at all.
@ Retired, Totally agreed.
With that being said, it’s reasonably known how you feel about Carl Mandoyan and his rescuer Sheriff Villanueva, going to trial.
That fiasco is real and unreal at the same time.
That’s not what I’m hearing about that “fiasco.” Facts have a funny way of creeping back into the conversation, and county counsel now has their hands full defending a host of federal, state, and local crimes regarding gifts of public funds, and in the millions. Apparently they are the suspects as well, along with the assessor’s brass. One of many, if you planned on using county counsel, the board, or AV haters for facts, you may have to reassess their credibility.
The true victims are the Los Angeles County Taxpayers.
LAPD was plagued with shenanigans and foolishness from within in the 80’s 90’s and the early 2000’s. As of late, they have become a model law enforcement agency.
In due time, LASD will get their shit together. Due time is not overnight or next year, so all involved and affected have to put on seatbelts and ride it out.
The LAPD–remember Teresa Evans?
She was Christopher Dorner’s training officer.
Lotsa stuff on her can now be Googled: Teresa Evans, LAPD.
I’d pump the brakes on Lampkin. He was in the car with Good ol Leroy. His mother was family friends.
What a friggin quagmire!
No comparison to duly terminated Carl Mandoyan being spoon fed by Alex V. all to the dismay of LASD. Amazing!
Prove It
@Black N Blue, what world are you living in when you say LAPD has become a “model agency.” Just do a little googling about some of the “shenanigans” that makes the press with their brass alone. Here is a quickie when I googled “LAPD crime state stats”.
https://www.dailynews.com/2018/08/11/van-nuys-lapd-captain-who-sued-department-over-claims-of-under-reported-crime-statistics-is-transferred-downtown/
I could go on and on with other googles and ones about the brass’ love triangles that have been in the press as well. Maybe you think the FBI is super duper too.
Get Real!
Better Google search words are “LAPD corruption”: there, you’ll find stuff like “Former FBI Agent: the LAPD derailed my murder investigation….”
Nail right in the head! All those bafoons will eat crow one day reap what they sowed. What a disgrace. U didnt know but now u know the real sheriff running this shit show is his aide. R. Garcia Lennox reaper. As my great great grandfather used to say…fuck them putos!!
Yhea she will be a LT soon. Murakami’s girl no doubt. Good Job Rodriquez 8.1 million your attorneys did an excellent job good luck to you…LOL chew on that LASD
Right on..they hid her at training bureau…what a freakin joke. Maybe another lawsuit for 10 million this time around! Lmaoo
@ LASD Apostle .. It looks like AV, Murakami and McBride were unprepared and frankly did not even want to be there. Lets face it AV is not up to the job. He has proven it time and again. Lets face it one misstep after another. He does not understand the job which comes with experience in command level position’s ( which he says he was denied ) and more importantly he thinks he does not need help ( when he let the entire command staff under McDonnell because he thought he were his loyalists … how stupid is that and promoted low-level managers LT’s to AS positions ). He does not understand that he has to be present and visible to represent the Department and continue to dialogue and listen to the BOS. He does not understand that he has to conduct research and figure out that his Sergeants and LT’s sign off on time and no one is held responsible. You are right though, all 3 looked like a bouquet of douche sitting and looking at their fat bellies.
Thank you Deputy Rodriguez…….Custody Division is full of quitters like you……..Now they can become sergeants but thank goodness they can stay in custody and become buttboys for folks like our last ousted execs.
@ Side Lines – even though you think it was a NO WIN for AV would you not stay and defend the Department you lead. Fight back and explain the negative effects of slashing the budget. Instead all 3 ( bouquet of douche) slouched and looked unfit to lead and explain the detremental effects of the cuts to the board. This is what happens when AV thinks he is smarter then everyone else. As of right now we are a Department going down hill real quick and the damage may very well be irreparable.
@ Keep Dreaming – In the event you’ve been living under a rock – Here are the facts – Because of previous grievances with the Department ( feeling he should have been promoted to Captain or a higher rank) – AV’s agenda has become associated with exclusion, alienation, and a disconnection with the County and it’s community members. It is a total catastrophe that the democrats got fooled by his ” Reform ” bullshit – As of now all AV is doing is circling the drain.
I think his personality is the very opposite of – SHERIFF of Los Angeles County material. He is the living , shitty embodiment of a culture that’s more BANDITO and less “Protect and Serve with high standards and ethics” – Thanks Alex. Leadership demands trust – and that the Sheriff will keep his word, do as he promises, and deliver on commitments. His style of running roughshod over virtually all of his County partners, , a constant flirtation with the edges of the law ; a clown car administration of LT’s promoted to Chiefs, the creepy Carl Mandoyan, and a temperament better suited for a Dictator than Sheriff of the Largest Law Enforcement Agency in the Country, has systematically destroyed the image of the Department.
His dwindling number of fan girls – (yes he has lost the entire democratic support in LA County) – invariably point feverishly to the “morale” issue. No matter what he does they shout, “but morale is good!” They’re creating a filter bubble as wrongheaded and as dysfunctional as the one they imagine existed when Block was Sheriff – This is not going to end well.
The people of the county of Los Angeles deserve and should demand better. Alex is either going to be a one term sheriff or will face a divisive recall effort.