LA County Probation

In a Surprise Move, Supervisors Name Ray Leyva, Former Sheriff’s Department 2nd in Command, As Interim LA Probation Chief

Ray Leyva, former LASD Undersheriff
Celeste Fremon
Written by Celeste Fremon

In an unexpected move, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has named former LASD undersheriff, Ray Leyva, as Interim Chief of LA County’s Probation Department, the largest such agency in the nation.

He is expected to take the reigns of the complex and problem-plagued agency in mid-January.

Although Leyva is being hired on an interim basis while the board searches for a permanent chief, the period during which he will likely serve is an unusually crucial time for the department.

On October 1, of this year, for example,  the board voted to create a civilian oversight body that is expected to steer the department through the process of fundamental reform. The Probation Oversight Commission, or POC,  will launch in 2020,  and is designed to have subpoena power, via the Office of the Inspector General.

The birth of the POC is only one of a number of upcoming major changes for the agency that Leyva will soon lead.

Also, during the next year, the youth side of probation is slated to completely phase out the use of Oleoresin Capsicum, commonly called OC-spray, the commercial-grade pepper spray generally rated to be 1,000 times “hotter” than a jalapeño pepper.

Plus, in August of 2019, the supervisors passed a motion that asked for a serious exploration of the potential goal of yanking LA’s youth probation system away from probation altogether.

Furthermore, probation staff members who work with the kids in the county’s system have a long list of pressing complaints, which include the emergency flags they sent up during most of last year, saying that the two still-open juvenile halls are simply not safe for either staff or youth.

In other words, in the coming year, the job of interim chief is anything but a place holder.

Two weeks ago, on December 12, the members of the existing probation commission sent the members of the board of supervisors a strongly-worded letter urging the board to take their time in selecting a new permanent chief, so that they get this critical choice right.

“The selection of a Probation Chief must be a transparent process that includes the public and those impacted by the policies and the failures of the Probation Department,” the commissioners wrote.

The department, they wrote, “has endured changes in leadership seven times in the last ten years. With each change in leadership, confidence has been eroded.”

The letter pointed out that members of the department’s labor force “have been very vocal about poor working conditions and confusion in the implementation of policies and procedures.”

Thus said the commissioners, this department “deserves an individual who has the temperament, skills, and willingness” to remain probation’s leader for the long haul, “so that reforms can continue to be implemented.”

(You can read the rest of the probation commissioners’ letter here.)

Meanwhile, the department needs a strong, wise, capable interim chief to steer the agency.  So is Ray Leyva that person?


The search

The list of people who were considered for the interim position was reportedly quite diverse, including candidates from inside the probation department, and others from the outside.  Some had lots of juvenile justice experience, while others, like Leyva, came from law enforcement and had little to no experience working in an agency that has kids in its care.

A few out of the eclectic group of potential candidates who were approached said thank you but no thanks.

But Leyva, according to those who know him, was genuinely intrigued—problems and all.

For those unfamiliar, Leyva has spent more than 40 years in law enforcement, 32 of those years in the LA County Sheriff’s Department. In 2016, he retired from the LASD as a commander.  (Specifically, he took a medical retirement, due to back and wrist problems.)

Then in December of this year, Leyva agreed to come out of retirement when then-brand new sheriff, Alex Villanueva, whose campaign Leyva had strongly supported, was putting together his command staff and persuaded the highly respected former commander to serve as his undersheriff.

“He missed being in the game,” one of his friends told WitnessLA at the time.  “And he hoped he could contribute as part of the team.”

Yet, three-and-a-half-months into his tenure, Villanueva abruptly shoved Leyva out of the position of undersheriff and out the LASD door altogether, reportedly after Leyva attempted to steer his boss away from choices he thought would ultimately cause Villanueva and the department problems.

(The official line was that the sheriff wanted a sworn officer in the position, and Leyva had come back as a civilian.)

So how will someone like Leyva, whose professional life has been spent solely in the field of law enforcement, fare in a complicated agency where, at the moment, most of the thorniest problems are located on the side of the department that deals with young people?

“I think he’ll do extremely well,” said a supervising youth detention officer now retired from probation, who described Leyva as a “straight shooter” who will seek out strong, talented people “for his team.”

Others we spoke to described Leyva as an unusually intelligent and level-headed leader who will also be skilled at dealing well with labor unions, and the kind of complex workforce that makes up LA County Probation.


Battle-tested

Those familiar with Leyva’s career know that, in addition to the accomplishments listed on his CV,  his years with the LA County Sheriff’s Department forced him to deal with more than the usual amount of venomous interdepartmental politics—especially during the reign of former sheriff Lee Baca and his once-feared second-in-command, Paul Tanaka.

Leyva was one of three captains that former LASD under-sheriff, now federal prison inmate, Tanaka, told others in the department that he would never under any circumstances promote.

In part, the problems with Tanaka reportedly began when, in 2003 Leyva attempted to institute a series of reforms at the then notoriously violent Men’s Central Jail, which at the time had a growing deputy gang problem, which had yet to become public. Tanaka, who had the unhelpful habit of reversing such reforms (as the Citizen’s Commission on Jail Violence would document nine years later), transferred Leyva out to a much lower-profile assignment. Subsequent to that, like others who found themselves crosswise with Tanaka, Leyva was reportedly repeatedly passed over for promotion in favor of men with far less experience and talent, but who were Tanaka proteges and loyalists.

Matters did not improve when Leyva ran for sheriff in 2006.

Yet, rather than ducking and covering, Leyva, along with another on Tanaka’s “never promote” list, successfully brought a lawsuit against the department alleging discrimination and unfair practices in its promotional system.

(There’s much more to the Leyva/Tanaka/Baca story.   For additional details see Dangerous Jails Part 3  and Part 4, which both cover Paul Tanaka’s notorious pay-to-play promotional system.)

So what do these experiences add to the mix?

Most of those whom WLA spoke with say that Leyva came out of the LASD trenches battle-tested,  but strongly optimistic about law enforcement and other forms of public service.

Leyva’s reputation in the world of Southern Californa law enforcement was reportedly helped by the fact that he rose to the top of various professional organizations with which he’s been involved.  For instance, he was on the national board for the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA) and served as its national president. Leyva also served as president of the Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Association—and so on.

“Ray Leyva is an excellent choice,” said Brian Moriguchi, the longtime former president of the Professional Peace Officers Association (PPOA), the supervisors union for the LA County Sheriffs Department.  “I have known him for many years. He has the management skills, respect towards employees, and integrity necessary to lead a department during a difficult transition. He was a great undersheriff who tried to keep Sheriff Villanueva on an ethical path….It’s good to see the Board of Supervisors recognized his value.” 

Leyva holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles.

WitnessLA will have more on the new interim chief in the near future.


116 Comments

  • This was a strategic move as they’re positioning Leyva for replacing AV. The Board, is made up of five very experienced County politicians. There was a time when AV COULD have made nice with the four queens and king, but that time long since passed.

    ONE of the stupid things AV repeated early on was that he wasn’t a politician (in one case, he did this as he directed an insult to the entire Board). He’ll find out eventually that he can’t survive without friends, political or otherwise and making enemies of the people who control your bank account isn’t a good idea.

    Unfortunately, a LOT of damage has already been done in just ONE year. I can’t imagine what the next three years will bring.

  • Something tells me WitnessLA and the LA Times will have front row knowledge of EVERYTHING happening in the LA County Probation Department starting in January.

  • He was granted tax-free disability retirement claiming he was not able to work and could not be permanently accommodated, but he is back again? Only in LA County and only among the upper echelon

  • @ Skippy – Leva was a good man who stood up to AV. I know AV’s closest supporter calls him ugly names but, he was the sole person who advised AV not to re-hire Mandoyan. He had integrity and was much respected. He was the intellectual architect, who was going to stabilize the ship because as of right now the ship is grounded, and there is a duress signal out there.

    AV had this pungent combination of arrogance, bullish stupidity, and a relentless, juvenile desire to run the Department dedicated not to transparency and real change but to offence. Offence towards the one’s who were his supporters, offence towards the BOS and offence towards the people who elected him.

  • @socal tay payer

    Thank you!. How does someone retire (Medically) and then come back? He was a Commander, it was not like he was going 10-8 and chasing bad guys. He was sitting at a desk and he had to be medically retired. Oh but wait, for a promotion I can now work again…..GTFOH.

  • Oh, did someone’s little feelings get hurt, LOL? Crime is down, jail violence is down, hiring is up, morale is up, and there’s a huge move to operationalize civic engagement all across the department’s many activities with the community. Pretty horrible things, for sure. The BOS tried to take over the LASD, and literally ran it through McDonnell, Huntsman, and the COC. It didn’t work out very well, like most everything the board tries to run. Look at the disaster in Probation, DCFS, etc. Make no mistake, no matter how many commissions or bureaucracies the board wants to put in between them and disasters, they are the ones responsible and need to be held accountable.

  • Will Leyva be given the freedom to use his intelligence and experience in his new position or will he just be another BOS hand picked puppet? Unless he approaches the job with the strength, character and insight of a Barry Nidorf…our last effective chief whose shoes no one has been able to fill as yet, we’re in for more of the same inept, unqualified mismanagement we’ve experienced in the recent past.

  • From what I hear Leyva’s standing up to AV would have been difficult to achieve from his position knifing the sheriff in the back.

  • Funny thing is after Leyva retired “medically” he was still ok enough to work as security for many events. Go figure.

  • @ Skippy aka Sourdeez aka @socal tax payer aka Keep Dreaming @ Um aka all the other 8 monikers you use – Interesting how the bright eyed possum knows all the inside information about Leyva.

    So let’s ask ourselves then as to why AV pick Leyva to be his US? Wait it’s because AV lacked have any command and executive experience. Leyva brought that executive and command experience to the table. Just an FYI Leyva did not stab AV in the back, AV just jumped on the sword himself, when he re – hired Mandoyan and went to war with the 4 Queens and King at the BOS – just as detailed well by @LASD Apostle.

    Currently everything orbiting AV are hot chunks of waste spinning around the central oscillator like a sewage -treatment plant. There is this lunatic mentality that as Sheriff the position will protect him indefinitely, the music will never stop, and the party will never end. We need to ask Baca and Tanaka how it turned out for them. When the music stops the cuffs come on. It’s a vicious circle at the Department. God help us – or on second thoughts even God LEFT LASD.

  • More of AV packing up the mariachis & Viv so she can dance with the trustees at CRDF on Christmas……..Probably heading off to MCJ for Cuervo shots with the inmates in 3600/3800 to ring in New Years…….I can only imagine what the next three years will bring with this comedy show.

  • Guess he will have plenty of people who were former Execs of LASO to help him out, if he so desires.

  • Editor’s Note:

    “New Year,” please clean up your language. And don’t expropriate other commenters’ screen names as you did this morning. Both moves will just get your comments tossed in the trash.

    C.

  • Anyone who thinks Leyva is a “straight shooter” should watch out because thats exactly what he makes you think, just before he stabs you in the back. He leaks to the media about superiors and subordinates, works the press to enhance himself over others, and recruits informants who are willing to join him in a game hes very good at,,, promoting his own career on the backs of decent and hard working employees. Career advice, watch what happens to the people around him who dont kiss his butt. Adios! Speak truth to power? Adios! Back your people or defend them in any way? Adios! If you are in with Ray Leyva, its because you either kissed his ass or you are a good employee on borrowed time.. Adios!

  • Napoleon, neither the four queens and one king, or the Times are what put AV in office. He understands that, you apparently don’t. You seem fond of the irrelevant, and ignore the obvious. Villanueva was smart to bring together a team of executives that had a diversity of experience, which included executive and command level experience. You seem to forget Stringham, Benedict, Hellmold, and a bevy of captains and commanders he inherited.

    AV was elected on a mandate to change the department, and he is well on his way. Transitional figures are needed, some can always be expected to excel on others not live up to their reputation. Life goes on, and now there’s a second executive team just configured. Aw gee, there must be a plan!

    BTW, your entire narrative is going to fall apart very shortly. That BOS, OIG, and COC were very busy before AV even took office, and it will catch up to them just like it does all crooks sooner or later.

  • HMMM….I have great respect for Mr. Leyva, but honestly why would he want to have any involvement with LA County Probation? Nothing against the Departments and tank all the hardworking rank and file members but I would not want to follow behind anywhere and have to pick up any of the carnage the former train wreck Terri McDonald left behind.

    I see this a clearly a political move to have Mr. Leyva serve as an easy scapegoat or pasty to blame all the failed management missteps the BOS and Probation Executives are responsible for. Mr. Leyva was just as available several years ago to lend his talents and managerial skills to the Probation Department as he is know but they close “Big Red”. Why chose Mr. Leyva now?

    It stinks…stinks really bad in my humble opinion.

    I wish Mr. Leyva the best and hope he is going into this endeavor with all eyes looking forward, backwards, up, down and all around.

  • It is interesting to see AV and his closest supporter paranoid with the elevation of Leyva. I think everyone can see through this name assassination.

    I worked with Leyva. He is confident enough to be humble – comfortable under his own skin – which is at the heart of effective leadership – something AV lacks. Good leaders constantly worry about their limited ability to see. Leyva rose above those limitations, and exercised good judgement which is a different thing from intelligence. He had the ability to orbit a problem or a set of facts and see it as it might be seen through others’ eyes.

  • Celeste, I love how you sensor those that expose your informants, such as Leyva, his boy Brian M, the OIG and the justice deps of the BOS.

    No sooner than Leyva was booted out of HOJ, you and Maya had written your sorrow articles for him. The reality is, Ray is a POS rat. That’s his reputation in the department. He will sell his soul and his mother down the river for his own gain. Minus the fact that his medical retirement was a sham and from my understanding, an inquiry has been made for an investigation with supporting information to prove he’s a liar and is committing fraud.

    What’s going to be even more hilarious is, when AV proves all you haters that he’s going to be a multi term Sheriff.

    Finally, unless you guys missed the latest, i’m sure you now know which organization just pledged their support for AV. Once you find out, you’ll be stomping your feet in agony… LOL

  • @ Keep Dreaming – Here is the reason AV let Leyva go.
    Under deposition “Leyva said under oath that he reviewed video evidence in Mandoyan’s case that showed the deputy tried to pry open a woman’s door and had indeed lied about it, as investigators initially found”. You may call it backstabbing. I call them facts. I think of all people you should know – In our line of work facts do matter.

    Right after AV abruptly fired Leyva in March.

  • New Year – I know which organization has banished him.

    “The Sheriff Has Lost the Public’s Trust”: L.A. Dems Vote to Rebuke Villanueva
    In a resolution, the same party that endorsed the sheriff told him to restore ”trust and transparency” to the L.A. Sheriff’s Department

    Democrats helped Alex Villanueva be elected sheriff of Los Angeles County in November. Many of the party faithful have since come to regret it.
    Los Angeles County Democratic Party approved an unusual rebuke of the sheriff, whose improbable victory the party had enthusiastically endorsed and campaigned for. By a clear majority, the party issued a formal statement of disapproval highly critical of the sheriff for what it refers to as “numerous complaints of abuse of his office” it says have “eroded the trust of the public.”
    The bottom line is the sheriff has lost the public’s trust. “He came in with an expectation and a real optimism from his supporters that he was going to reform the department, restore public trust in department and bring about some serious positive changes to how the department was run. And instead he’s doing favors for friends, he’s combative, he’s not transparent, and he’s focusing on all these things that he never campaigned on.”

  • I cannot speak about Ray Leyva. However, I have heard both negative and positive things about him (unable to confirm). Nonetheless, @LASD APOSTLE does make an interesting speculation about the BOS and Ray Leyva.

    I do know that the BOS and some contract city mayors are not happy with AV. Further, the BOS is looking to put an initiative on a future ballot to allow the BOS to remove the Sheriff (AV), that is if the voters approve it.

    I personally don’t care for what the POS BOS are trying to do. The BOS is trying to usurp and undermine the decisions of the voters of L.A. County. It appears that AV is to the BOS on how Trump is to the House.

    As I have stated previously, AV knows what he is doing, right, wrong or indifferent. He is in total control of his decisions, actions and ramifications that will arise from his decisions. AV is not stupid. Nonetheless, he will be the sole recipient of his demise or success.

  • There was a time I thought Ray Leyva was a good dude, and I did all I could to help him, but he showed me who he was the day I needed him. As a younger deputy, I met Leyva when he was transferred as a captain from headquarters to run the Central Jail. At the time there were issues at Central Jail, (CJ) that later became the reason for the Baca/Tanak regime’s demise. When Leyva arrived at CJ he came across like a nerd, he would wear his sheriff’s department issued uniform with insignia and badges, as well as his county-issued identification card hanged around his neck. That caused me concern, and I asked myself, how could this guy be so redundant, we all know who he is. Leyva was following department policy that mandates all deputies carry their county-issued identification card while on duty. Anyone look up the Manual of Policy and Procedure (MPP) section, I may be wrong.

    Leyva tried to correct the issues at CJ, however, he failed. He later claimed that the Baca/Tanaka regime prevented him from fixing the issues at CJ. Back then I gave him the benefit of the doubt, however, now I know he failed because he lacked the leadership skills necessary to deal with the issues presented to him. He was afraid to do what was necessary to deal with Tanaka because he was weak, period. Instead, he allowed himself to be transferred to the jail facility far up north and stayed quiet.

    Shortly after that, he was advised by the County Board member Gloria Molina to run against Baca, and only then, he had the guts to do so, but only because he thought the BOS would support him, not because he had the courage, for lack of a better word. I was still stupid enough to believe he was a good man, and I assisted him with his campaign. Yes, I along with other deputies were helping him out, by walking county precincts, talking to people transmitting his message to win the election against Baca. I spent many hours on my days off doing that, and I did it because I believed at the time Tanaka was bad news, and I did not want him to ever be the sheriff.

    As we now know, Leyva lost the election in 2006 and he stayed content, hiding up north, at the North Jail facility for a while without a fight. He sued Baca I believed, and later was promoted by McBuckles, he later claimed injury because he did patrol duty for two years when he was younger and retired.

    There was a day when I needed help from Leyva, because he offered it and because I needed it. I told him how I became the target of biased supervisors, (long story to be told in court) who destroyed my life and career in the sheriff’s department. He said he would look into it, instead of running the situation by Alex, he went and told the BOS, Diana Teran, County Counsel etc…and within days, I had ICIB at my house harassing me and my family, with an unequivocal message, STFU or else, well, I am still talking.

    That my friends is Leyva…he is the same kind as Stephen Johnson, Kelly Frazer, Erik Parra, all these pansies Alex fired last year, they will tell you to back them up, and you do, but when you need their 10-33 back up, crickets…they would not put their name on a piece of paper to save any of you out of fear of losing their LACERA retirement, period…

    If tomorrow ICIB hits me up with a manufactured fake search warrant because of this post, I will blame it on Leyva, I’ll let you know, they are good at framing people and manufacturing probable cause against all those who dare to challenge them, or who pose a threat to them…at the end of the day, they are in power, and the system believes the story more of those in power right….

  • @unconstitutionalist

    Sure buddy, this coming from mcdummy’s old campaign manager that’s still on blogs in disbelief as how he and Park lost an election that hasn’t been lost in over a century. Lol… I doubt any candidates are knocking on your door these days, Steve. Shew and go away with your fake news. For your information, AV was just recently invited to the LACDP Christmas party where they affirmed their full and ongoing support for him. So, keep thinking of other lies and keep putting that lipstick on that pig. Moron.

  • You need to get yourself updated. The LACDP supports Sheriff V, and that infamous resolution was a last gasp measure by Sheila Kuehl and her minions to sully the sheriff’s reputation. It didn’t work.

  • Bastard, it appears that you lived through the Leyva/CJ timeline, but I’m thinking you have it a bit off as far as why he was transferred up to PDC. The way we heard it, Leyva got freeway therapy for daring to run against Baca. That has been pretty standard fare when dealing with “upstarts” who dare to challenge elected officials. The head deputy DA of the Compton office found himself filing cases (entry level job) at CCB when he tried to run against Cooley.

    As far as whether Leyva is solid, I’m swayed by a ton of people who worked for him and claimed he was sneaky and failed to back deputies in a pinch. Then again, he came highly recommended by an executive I would trust with my life.

    It does appear that the BOS is setting him up the way they set up McDonnell (CCJV appointment when he had “no intention of running against Baca” – LOL) to get him thrust into the limelight.

    All that said, if Leyva were to become sheriff, I think his intelligence and institutional knowledge would highly benefit the department.

  • @Napolean
    Your are completely missing the point. I am not questioning Levya’s experience or ability as law enforcement officer. He MEDICALLY RETIRED, meaning he could not longer work because of some condition he suffered from. Taxpayers paid for him to MEDICALLY RETIRE. Yet, now magically he can work again. If he is such a stand up guy, did he call LACERA and give back the tax free portion of his retirement. I think not.

  • Bastard: You sound like an angry man who can not accept responsibility for his actions and looks to put blame elsewhere. I worked for Ray when he was both a sergeant and Lieutenant at ELA. I found him to be a man of integrity. He was on the fast track on the Department until he had the audacity to run for Sheriff which quickly stopped any career advancement and led to his subsequent civil suit. Perhaps a little introspection in needed my friend.

  • Funny how all the PPOA retired rejects come out to support their rat, with the hopes of them getting something out of it. Smh… And Brian being in front of the line. I bet anything he brings back most of you rejects. Let’s wait and see. Tick tock.

  • @ Skippy aka Sourdeez aka @socal tax payer aka Keep Dreaming aka BASTARD @ aka Um and all the other 8 monikers you use – All of a sudden the bright eyed possum has decided to write some sort of a victim script in Re : Leyva.

    This looks like sad and pathetic Hollywood script written by yours truly AV, Mandoyan and AV’s faithful….

    GTFOH !!!

    Notice these sentences.. paranoia hitting home. ” That my friends is Leyva…he is the same kind as Stephen Johnson, Kelly Frazer, Erik Parra, all these pansies Alex fired last year, they will tell you to back them up, and you do”.

  • Truthfully, it doesn’t matter who the BOS appoints now or later. The current exec team will stick by the same mantra that they have for the last 5 chiefs, “this is our department and we will still be here when he/she is gone.” They have yet to accept an “outsider” and have no problem making it known. But, one of the most corrupt directors is nearly giddy with anticipation at the arrival of Leyva. He is already boasting of having a juice card upstairs due to prior alliances with LACCEA. It’s gonna get really ugly if he is allowed to continue his reign of terror, as numerous line staff have experienced. Truly sad. As usual, we will hope for the the best and anticipate the worst AGAIN.

  • Bandwagon, you are damn right, I am angry, which is an understatement. I at least gave you a reason why I believe Leyva is a self-serving individual, only doing what benefits him, yet, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, I may be wrong. I hope eventually I get more solid proof. Now Bandwagon, can you list an example as to why you found Leyva to be a man of integrity.

  • I don’t think Sheriff V is paranoid about anything, he’s done no wrong. McDonnell executives, on the other hand, along with county officials, have a lot of sweating and sleepless nights ahead of them, as they should. Effective leadership is ethical leadership, and the leader has to care about those he/she leads. McDonnell failed spectacularly on both counts. Leyva showed that he cared about himself and little more.

  • Ray Leyva is a competent and qualified administrator. Probation is in need of a Chief who is reasonable and fair. I have worked for Big Red and I am not a fan. Ray will be a big improvement. Leyva vs AV. I respect Ray but AV is building a strong base of support throughout the County. He will be re-elected. For a guy claiming not to be a politician, he is learning quickly. I am enjoying my time working for AV, as are many on the Department.
    Bastard I don’t know your story but there is a lot of anger and pain in your post. I have been there and feel for you. Regarding your comment that Ray was just another guy unwilling to risk his pension… fighting bureaucracies is a lonely endeavor… I know from personal experience.

  • Well said. From everything I have heard from friends at Probation, he’ll be a big improvement over what they have had to deal with for a long time.

  • Celeste, i love it how you keep censoring my free speech when i criticize your boy Ray. All I’m doing is calling him out for who he really is. Practice what you preach Celeste.

  • You missed the part Napoleon when fired employees tend to be hostile towards the organization that fired them, and it doesn’t improve their credibility. In the real world they’re called disgruntled former employees, and they have an axe to grind. You can call that a fact.

    Trying to imply somehow that Villanueva is going to face the fate of convicted felons Baca and Tanaka is a pig that won’t fly. There is a reason he was known as a straight arrow throughout his career. McDonnell and his staff, however, have a lot to worry about.

  • He’ll do nothing for probation but dance to the tune BOS tells him to. Don’t forget, they put him there with orders. He’s not there to improve the place. He’s only there to minimize the blowback on the BOS since they had a hand in destroying probation. I’m still puzzled how he got better all of a sudden to work a full time job after he went through a medical retirement board to seek his tax free retirement. Let’s pull up how much money he’s earning while being MEDICALLY retired and now has miraculously gotten better at his old age to lead a department the size of proportion. People go to jail for a lot less offenses than this. Celeste, being the social justice warrior and an investigative reporter that you are, please look into this. The insurance board certainly will be.

    If anyone else pulled something like this, Ray and his boy Brian would be dropping dimes to everyone countrywide.

  • Bastard a few times at ELA Station, Ray was my W/C, I was working my normal car in City Terrace (21/E) and had no partner after a call-in (usually a 2 man car) and all other unit’s were 10-6 with call’s or 10-15.
    Ray donned his Sam Browne and rolled out to back me up on call’s. As a young deputy on patrol (4 years) I thought this guy was awesome. That is just one story for his integrity. LA Co Probation is getting a good leader. Ray Good Luck,

  • Home / Pensions / 2018 / CalPERS / Raymond Leyva
    Raymond Leyva
    Pension: $28,993.00
    Benefits: Not provided
    Total pension &
    benefits amount: $28,993.00
    Last Employer: CITY OF BURBANK
    Years of Service 4.82
    Year of Retirement 2016

  • Should he become Los Angeles County’s next Sheriff, he won’t need the 3.5 million backing to guarantee political favors to a certain union.

  • PPOA spent almost as much in support of then incumbent Jim McDonnell than ALADS spent in ousting him, yet no mention of that. Now why is this? Get used to the idea the current sheriff is going to be around for awhile.

  • What @KD said. You won’t hear a mention of PPOA’s failed attempt because that’s all who’s posting the hatred and frustration from being beat. Only union to go against every other union. Who does that? Only self-serving, self loathing individuals who only see self gain. How’d that work out for you BM? Yes, get used to seeing AV for multiple terms. Because regardless of what they post in this PPOA blog, no one reads it or cares what they say.

    These yahoo’s keep underestimating AV and keep finding out he’s a lot smarter then them, even though they think they’re the smartest people on the planet. Chew on that reality folks. Happy New Year haters.

  • I’ve known Ray Leyva since 1986 and through all of ranks Sergeant and above. Integrity is a word used throughout the comments here, and he has demonstrated his integrity and his courage throughout his career at LASD. He is smart, a great listener, and makes things better everywhere he serves. Even at the jobs nobody seems to care about like when he was a lieutenant over logistics at STARS. If BRIAN Moriguchi says Ray Leyva is the real deal, there could be no better endorsement as BRIAN is a man of courage, intelligence and County knowledge. Ray is not only a former colleague but he is my neighbor. The story about his time as ELA WC rolling to back up a deputy is typical of Ray. It’s not what you do when everyone is looking it’s what you do when nobody is looking and that has been my 40 year experience with Ray Leyva. Standing up to the disaster known as AV, was not the first time Ray has told truth to those in power. He did it to Baca and Tanaka and I witnessed it and the fallout afterwards that really damaged Rays bright career trajectory at the time. Did it cause him to fold? No, he went of to Custody and freeway therapy and created another positive environment at PDC North. It takes guts to tell truth to power and weather the fallout; I’ve done it but perhaps not as gracefully as Ray was able to. I know a host of honorable men and women who worked with Ray at all ranks who think highly of him and his skill set. Can he fix Probation? It will be very difficult but he knows how to do it. It’s a very entrenched and complex organization and the words someone shared about doing it in the same fashion of the late great Barry Nidorf are both relevant and wise. I knew Mr. Nidorf and he was a probation and criminal justice giant who really understood the mission and employees and juvenile justice system and the way it’s supposed to work for each of its constituencies. Ray has the intelectual capacity to strive for that ladder rung and the practical experience to motivate people to join him in achieving that goal. Will he be there long enough to do that? Is he going to run for Sheriff? Who knows. But while he’s at Probation he will give it his all and leave it a better place. If he decides to run for Sheriff again I will work for him and I guarantee you that he will be a Sheriff in the mold of the late, great, Sherman Block. The LASD needs someone like Ray to wash the stain of Baca and Tanaka out once and for all. I don’t know the current Sheriff but some of his moves trouble me. I know how difficult that job is and I pray for the Sheriff to do the right things. But being a lieutenant and becoming Sheriff is a lot different than being a retired commander or undersheriff and becoming Sheriff. There just appears to be so many experiences that the current Sheriff missed that Ray Leyva did in his career at all ranks and the many different jobs he had. I am one that believes only an insider can do that job. So count me in for Ray Leyva at Probation, LASD or just as my neighbor. He’s the real deal and a good ethical person.

  • Just an independent outlook on the BOS last appointment of TM. Yeah, Mr. Leyva was probably available for the last Probtion Chief appointment but the BOS liked what they saw in T. McDonald. Maybe the BOS selected TM because of the majority makeup 4:1 women to man ratio that make up the board. Plus, our society at the time had reached an alarming monumental push for Women Empowerment that was accelerated by the Me To Movement. “Men” became the enemy. Now, don’t get me wrong, I could care less who gets the job for Probation Chief as long as they lead by positive example and show fairness for all line staff who are sworn to uphold the policies that guide this department for maintaining the safety and security for both line staff and detained minors in the camps and halls. If you want to get an idea of what it’s like to be with this population of minors; I suggest Mr Leyva dump the shirt and tie when on your visits, put on a blue shirt and tan khaki pants, sit in Boys R at CJH for a week to get an idea of wonderful work the line staff do each day. Leave your entourage at home. Mr Leyva, your work is cut out for you and I hope you’re strong enough to lead by your heart and not by politics. Congratulations and good luck.

  • Any data to back up your tit for tat?

    No union in Socal has ever spent 3.5 on a candidate for any Sheriff besides ALADS.

    The 3.5 million is a non disputed fact, the big question is what does ALADS expect in return?

    FYI, Decisions, thinking and spending by ALADS does not go hand in hand with the majority of deputies which is another narrative for another time.

  • Go look at Mcdummy’s 460 report. It’s all in there.

    There’s the data for you. PPOA spent the same if not more than ALADS did. ALADS was just smarter and more politically savvy.

    That’s also not counting the money Mcdummy raised on his campaign side. More like 1.5mil to AV’s 150k total. So, chew on those facts and ask your buddy Brian why he rigged the endorsement process without ever interviewing AV. Also, ask him why he was bartering a promotion for himself from all 3 candidates in return for PPOA’s endorsement. That’s a fact. Ask Lindsey, AV and Mcdummy. Mcdummy was getting desperate in the end and promised him a promotion.

  • @Utah Jake
    How much did Brian and Ray pay you to write that bullshit regarding two of the biggest weasels, snakes and self serving rats in the department. I’ll tell you this, no one, and i mean no one cares for either one of them in the department. Even people on the PPOA board wish Brian would just go away and take his boy with him.

    The words integrity and Ray are like oil and water. He’s the biggest lying, conniving and manipulative POS I know. And for your information, he never stood up to AV because AV wasn’t doing anything wrong for him to stand up to. Ray got caught trying to create a whole new position for himself behind AV’s back. Ray was also working behind the scenes with the BOS and CEO for his own gain while screwing deputies and LASD over. He was leaking confidential departmental information with the other side and the press with the hopes that he would benefit from screwing AV within the first month AV was in office. This mother fucker didn’t even give AV time to get his stationary before he tried sabotaging him. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. AV should have never brought that piece of shit back. This is how he repays the guy, by stabbing him in the back in the first weeks. Fuck Ray, disloyal, self serving, back stabbing POS. And his puppet master is that weasel Brian M who thinks he’s slick to hover in the backgrounds. GTFOH with your desperate diatribe about two of the biggest snakes in the department. Oh, we won’t go into Ray hiring his 924 too. A real swell guy Ray is. Stand by for a lot of Ray’s skeletons to be released, good neighbor or whoever the hell you are.

  • @ Skippy aka Sourdeez aka @socal tax payer aka Keep Dreaming aka BASTARD @ aka Um aka NEW YEAR and all the other 8 monikers the bright eyed possum uses :
    You must have the Divine Miracle of Amnesia.

    This stuff is nauseating. AV has set his trajectory and it’s a downward one. He is facing mounting controversies since being sworn in. He tried to reinstate Mandoyan and other troubled deputies who had previously been fired, hired his son who would not have been hired by any other agency and is in a full on brawl with the 4 Queens and King at the BOS.

    The FBI is investigating tattooed deputies at ELA as well as similar gang-like groups elsewhere within the Department. It’s the return of the Feds back again digging around the Department.

    Oh and the union decisions to support AV: ALADS didn’t do it for no reason. Like they say NOTHING IS FREE !! Members did not want McD to discipline them.

    AV brilliantly plays that sense of alienation, promising rank and file Deputies he is to be their avenger but nonetheless a flawed one.

  • Editor’s Note,

    Dear “New Year,”

    I let the above comment through the gate because it is slightly less profane than some of your other recent comments, plus you aren’t impersonating anyone.

    Please clean things up.

    As for your claims that WLA is engaging in preferential treatment by deleting some of your comments, you are simply uninformed.

    Happy 2020.

    C.

  • I agree with you New Year, the thing is that integrity has different meanings to people. I find it obscene that Leyva is currently getting paid around $300,000 from being physical disabled to do is job as a sheriff’s commander.

    Not even former sheriff James McBuckles gets that much. I find that to be lacking integrity. Leyva retired because he was unable to sit behind a desk doing nothing on the sheriff’s department, how can he now be a working probation chief?

    Hey neighbor, can you explain that? Can you ask Leyva which doctor all of a sudden cleared him okay to go full duty?

  • I believe Sheriff V educated the LACDP about the facts versus spin, and they realized they were duped. Buyers remorse you could call it. The political establishment hates to lose and be spectacularly on the wrong side of history, and they’ve managed to do both with our sheriff.

  • Keep Dreaming- LACDP did not endorse him for his leadership nor his ethics nor his morals. It was blind faith – blind faith in AV moving ICE out of jails that was it -spluttering his accomplishments ( which they knew of none ) instead of looking from the hard truth of ethics, morals and leadership skills. They knew he was not relatable, credible or engaging for that matter. They still bought that messy wreck and went with it.

    As of right now LACDP has buyers remorse. They just realized he fooled them – no matter how he is trying to spin them. They understand that AV is a catastrophically terrible Sheriff who took them as fools. Oh wait he says he is the first Latino Sheriff of LA County. Really ?

  • I think Ray will be a good leader because he is intelligent, and has immense institutional knowledge which would highly benefit the department. Additionally, I think he will bring leadership. Leadership which demands trust. Trust that he will keep his word, do as he promises, and deliver on commitments. I think these are qualities that Ray brings to the table and why are they important? Because at some point under his command, he will face travesty. His line staff will look to him to lead them, crisis requires a moral leader, to guide, direct and lead.

    Ray is exactly the person Probation needs right now. Big Red was a failure. In the future if he does run for Sheriff, I will most definitely support him.

  • New Year : Don’t take this the wrong way but ur are an idiot. Another angry man who needs some introspection. Take a yoga class and chill. Ur going to have a stroke!

  • Thank you Celeste, dully noted.. I’ll cautiously tread that line. Some of these phonies need to be called out for who they really are. I don’t expect you to know this, but some of us have worked with and around them and seen the pure evilness they posses. So when people like Ray and Brian try to make you believe they’re some innocent angels just looking out for the betterment of society and the department, it makes me want to puke my guts out.

    Regardless, thank you for policing your blog and don’t buy anything Ray and Brian try to sell you. We know they try and try hard.

  • You just made zero sense in your desperate rant to save face and say something back.

    You’re losing this battle and are running out of negative things to say about AV because you’re constantly being proven wrong. Go ahead let’s hear it. We’re all ears.

  • @Bandwagon
    I’m totally good calling you and your fake ass buddies out for who you really are.

    The 5 of you clowns sit around and post nonsense about our Sheriff while never acknowledging all the good he’s done for the department and the community in a short 12 months. If you care so much about our department as you say, why not be encouraging and supportive like the majority are. Stop being a puppet and stop buying the bullshit Brian, Ray, BOS and the Times feed you. Take a moment and talk to the heart of the department, the line deputies and professional staff. Everyone loves our Sheriff and what he’s done for us. We finally have s leader that will fight for what’s right, give everyone an opportunity and will stick his feet in the sand and stand up for what’s right and fair, not what a politician would do. You may not know what the word loyalty means, but he does and that’s what separates him from you and your self serving friends.

  • Napolean-I dont know why you think I have different names in this forum. I am just one individual. You probably dont think that there are more AV supporters around but there are…a lot more. So get used to that bud.

  • Villanueva spent his entire career speaking truth to power, and at great personal expense. You want to claim that all of a sudden he became a dishonest person? I think the political establishment is doing their best to try to paint him that way, but the facts don’t support their (your) cause. Relatable, credible, or engaging, are you kidding me? The kid that shocked the world was and is all of the above to the LACDP, something McDonnell never was. He was a career bureaucrat, a carpet bagger, someone who showed extreme indifference to the plight of the organizations he led. Just ask LBPD if they would take him back. Ask LASD if they want him back.

    That faith in Sheriff V wasn’t blind, it was affirmed when he came through with his campaign promises. I find it pretty funny when you claim he’s a catastrophically terrible sheriff, yet you can’t state a fact to support that wild-eyed claim. Dwell on this, all you think you have is a controversial rehire, and it turns out he was spot on from the beginning. The BOS is the one with buyer’s remorse now, not the LACDP. BTW, reading comprehension would help you. The first Latino claim came from LA Magazine, not the sheriff. He’s more like the fourth, but the first Spanish speaking in over a century.

  • @ New Year aka Keep Dreaming – You can put your best spin at denigrating others with your endless torrent of bullshit by endlessly and fruitlessly arguing that AV is loved by everyone within and outside the Department.

    So is loved because he promotes his friends, and friends of friends to command staff. Is he loved because he lowers hiring standards just to meet numbers. Is he loved because he is dishonest to the citizens of LA County by lying to them his ” Reform Re-build” BS. Describe AV’s vision for the Department without one of your hatred filled distractions.

  • 415 enigma, you sound like an angry old man, as your buddy Bandwagon would say. You have your opinions, so we all have our opinions. Alex is the best that happened to the sheriff’s department. Alex did not come to follow the status quo, as Leyva tried to do.

    If Leyva does as the BOS, the LA Times, witnessLA wish, he will be fine, and I know Leyva is going to do just that. God forbid he upsets the county power mafia. He will be to the probation department what McBuckles was to the sheriff’s department.

  • @Bastard – Yes we all have our opinions, but the facts do not lie. People are free to their own opinions but not their own facts. Leyva will lead probation and guide them out the crisis they are in right now just like he did when he was with our Department.

  • 415 Enema, you made two wild claims with zero facts to support them. First and foremost, you claim AV lowered hiring standards, so offer some proof. They’ve been unchanged through four sheriffs, starting with Baca around 2006. No one since has touched them, but you knew that, right?

    On your other whopper, exactly what crisis did Leyva guide the LASD out of? He made off with almost a million in his lawsuit against the county, and he was embedded with the BOS, doing their dirty work for them. Perfect choice for probation, as he will join a long line of appointed department heads who exist to give the supervisors political cover and a fall guy to blame when things go bad. My guess is Ray will be in charge when one of those little angels in juvie hall decides to kill a staff member for shits and giggles. At least he and the board can be consoled that no OC spray was available.

  • @ Keep Dreaming – You mean hiring recruits who would need body attachments to show up to court.
    Wait didn’t AV sue the Department too ? I guess it was OK for him to do it.

    Ray will be fine. The feds will not be at probation to insert a camera up his rear end and tickle his tongue. You know like the Bandidos at ELA ( who are protected by AV ) and the Reapers he just promoted.

    So quit worrying and acting all concerned about Ray. Like I said Ray will be fine.

  • 145 enigma, I am going to give you two facts about Leyva. When he was running against Sheriff Lee Baca, I asked Leyva if it was true that Baca was upset with him, Leyva told me the following: Gloria Molina out of the blue (really), approached him and shared with him she was not happy with Baca. Molina asked Leyva to run against Baca. Leyva told Molina at the time he was no interested. Time went by and Baca approached Leyva asking whether it was true he wanted to run against him. Leyva threw Molina under the bus and told Baca, it was not true, that it was Molina’s idea.

    If Leyva would have had any integrity and loyalty, as soon as he was done talking to Molina, he should have gone to Baca and gave him a heads up, as to what Molina was up to, he did not. If I had been Baca, I would have been upset as well and would have given him freeway therapy for lack of integrity and lack of loyalty.

    Leyva did the same thing to Alex Villanueva. Behind Alex’s back he hired his lover to a good spot on the sheriffs’ department, he began creating a new position for himself and was passing confidential information to the usual suspects, Diana Teran from the OIG and the BOS. He was doing it as an insurance policy, right?

    You who hate Alex, would argue a moral superiority and justify Leyva’s disloyalty as an act of heroism and a “Higher Loyalty”…Leyva should write a book, I am sure you all would buy it.

  • @ Bastard aka Keep Dreaming – I am sorry you fell for a con man like AV- lying, conniving and manipulative and yes self loathing over being side stepped for promotion over and over. Sure AV was looking for a place for both his anger toward the previous administrations of both Baca and McD, and to show that if he came to power he would some how exult the same punishment and denigration. The amount of times he self pitied, I could buy him the smallest violin in the world, and he could play to his pity tune.

    I understand you are riding high on his pony – but like they say the show will end pretty soon. Leyva never stabbed AV – AV just lunged on that sword when he re-hired Mandoyan ( BTW Mandoyan is done) no matter what AV tries to do to get him back, for the favors received during elections.

    Oh I see you splattering all kinds of personal information about Ray – I sense paranoia – those sleepless nights – AV is one and done.

    Just an FYI Career advice for all the LT’s and Captains who promoted to Chiefs and AS – guess they want to be done in 3 years – the curtains on this comedy show will come down.

  • @ Bastard aka Keep Dreaming aka Um aka New Year – Back then it was only Gloria at BOS who locked horns with Baca – Fast-forward 2019 – It’s the entire BOS ( including Wesson who will soon be a Sup ) who are making AV look like a juvenile.

  • Just as I thought, no facts to support your claims. Typical hater. Not sure how AV is protecting Bandidos when he has more than a dozen admin investigations in addition to the massive criminal investigation now sitting in the hands of the DA. More than 30 have left the station, and the department now has a new policy on deputy subgroups that should serve notice to the idiots who think it’s still a good idea. It’s a work in progress, far more than anything McMoron or Banaka ever did regarding this issue.

    Cognistator, regurgitating a plaintiff’s attorney claim is not exactly a legitimate news source. Try again.

  • AV needs to be popular with 50% plus 1 voter. He, unlike McDonnell, is taking the steps to build relationships with wide swaths of voters. The last election was McDonnell’s to lose and he lost it. AV with all his shortcomings will not make the same mistake. He has taken the boot off the necks of the Deputies and is letting them do their jobs. PPOA and ALADS will support him with endorsements and perhaps some cash. Those who have nostalgia for McDonnell and Tanaka will fall in line and support AV because AV controls the promotions and rewards. Successful bureaucrats are adaptive creatures, they will survive. Those who were cut loose by AV at the beginning of his term with fade into history. AV’s initial disruptive promotions will give way to more thoughtful executive promotional processes. Ray will do a great job as the Chief of Probation but in a year will be back to retirement. In the end transformational leaders come along every few generations. Baca, Scott, McDonnell, and AV were not and are not transformational leaders. AV, Like his predecessors will tweak the organization, I think mostly in a positive way but the LASD will continue to plod forward in its core mission of keeping the community safe despite who is Sheriff.

  • @ Seeking the truth, PPOA will never support AV, no matter how many followers AV tries to get on the Board. You mention Tanaka, well truth be told, AV has done nothing but continue to promote many of the Tanaka “leg humpers” (that’s what AV used to call them.) AV is nothing but a disappointment. I was a huge supporter believing that he would do the right thing, unfortunately he has done just the opposite. His inability to truly be a leader has shown and continues to show that he really has no clue what he is doing. Surrounding himslef with others that have no clue only helps his ego, while destroying LASD from within.

  • I am also surprised Sheriff Villanueva promoted many brown nosers and leg hunters from the McDonnell regime…heck some of those newly promoted executives where even at the late night rally waiting for the votes to be counted and were all in the “team McDonnell’” camp. Scary! Talk about loyalty/dis-loyalty depending on how you look at it and flat out unabashed “flip-flopery”.

    I guess when your career aspirations drive every fiber of your being and your position or rank define you as a person, you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. Scary and pathetic I think. I guess Neil Tylers course on ethics did not take hold. Oh, it probably wasn’t required course for executives to take. I guess only the commoners needed this type of training since the lords are above the regular rules that apply to the masses.

    Why didn’t the board put former Sheriff McDonell in the Probation Chief post or the personally revoked place holder that replaced her as LASD’s figure-head of custody…. Kelly Harrington. A stick figure could have done his job.

  • Reading through the whining of those who think they lost privilege with AV running the show is amusing. The argument that everything’s a train wreck, or the ship is sinking, blah blah blah, never seems to be supported with FACTS. Yes AV got screwed royally by Tanaka and company, that is no secret. So did hundreds if not thousands of other department members who refused to kiss his ring. What set AV apart is that he didn’t sit in a corner sucking his thumb, he got busy in a historic way. There is a lesson to be learned by those who screw people over for the sheer joy of exercising raw power without morals. Sooner or later someone is going to get the better of you. The more you screw people over, the odds increase that will happen, and it did.

    Villanueva is that transformational leader, still speaking truth to power, and the political establishment hates him for it. They prefer all their bodies to remain buried, and they probably would have had they not created their mini deep state of fired McDonnell execs, OIG, and BOS staff, particularly from the 3rd district. Their goal was to defeat, stall, and prevent our sheriff from achieving any political victories in what they hope would be his only term in office, but facts have a way of catching up to the spin.

    Those who oppose our sheriff do so out of personal ambition or animosity, not out of concern for the welfare of the department. These very same fools showed zero concern for the fate of the department during the reigns of terror of the previous sheriffs because it has always been about what was good for them personally. Those days are over, thank God.

  • “Try again”

    WTF?

    The “plaintiff’s attorney claim” means that the matter is now in the courts–seven different deputy plaintiffs–and anything emanating from court proceedings is too “a legitimate news source.”

    Lesseee what rocks get turned over.

  • @ Keep Dreaming – ” More than 30 have left the station” no disciplinary action – the Captain at ELA promoted to Commander. You call those who criticize AV haters, but the people of LA County know that AV is a Bandido and part of the Clique. He cannot hide away from it.

    There is no work in progress at the Department. His is decaying the Department with promotions of Bandidos and reapers. This will cause irreparable damage in the long term.

  • Man. It really makes you so angry you have to resort to vile language and character assassination? I’d really like to know your personal angle here. Did you witness things firsthand? We’re you turned down for a promotion? Did you get disciplined? Is this Carl Mandoyan?

  • @415 Enema

    The only one that’s done is you. From the sound of your anger and bitterness it’s obvious you have nothing coming to you. You can salk in your misery and anger towards everyone else because what was promised to you has come to a screeching halt.

    Your rant about how deputies don’t like AV is also another absurd rhetoric you spew. Try this and see what will happen. Try talking shit about AV to any line deputy and see how fast you’re shut down and/or smacked in your gums. You will never have the courage to do that because you yourself know the outcome. You just go ahead and whine and complain on your keyboard and the few PPOA rejects you hang out with. You’re not as smart as you think you are. Matter of fact, you’re pretty dumb. It must also suck watching others around you moving up past your sorry ass. You had an opportunity to do the right thing, but you let your ego and your intoxication with power skew your mind. Greedy fuck.

  • Okay 415 Enigma, I have given you facts, you have given cero facts, just juvenile assertions, take a chill pill, you are going to suffer a stroke…are you one of the fired executives or who are you? You really hate Alex…And you hate all of us who stand by him, willing to fight with him.

    Take your $300k in retirement and call it a day…don’t be greedy and egotistical, like Leyva, go travel the world, there is more than the LA County politics…

  • If AV rejected McDonnell worshippers and Tanaka clowns, exactly what would be left for him to promote? The station trustee?

  • The Bandidos from ELA. You know the guys he gave front row seating for his swearing in at ELAC. Oh wait he did promote the Captain from ELA to Commander.
    There are a lot of good people at the Department whom he could have promoted to command and executive staff. However, AV made brash decisions early on – it was pay to play – he just gets played by Tall Paul’s coin collectors.

  • @ Keep Dreaming aka @ New Year – So AV hires only the best – from disgraced ( BANDIDO STATION CAPTAINS TO COMMANDER), unpromotable laughingstock- suffering from a wave of scandals the meat- grinder of his command staff ( Yes look what happed to his first US and his 2 chiefs ). The fundamental issue here is, AV is not only unqualified, he has the nerve to create qualifications sergeants and lieutenants must meet to promote, so that his inept friends or friends of friends (Reapers promoted to Captain ) who have been passed up for not meeting the bar ( Tall Paul’s coin collectors or other shady characters promoted to Chief like Lajuana Haselrig ( She helped AV get some BLACK VOTES and THAT WAS IT ). Everyone knows about Haselrig and her shenanigans – but last not least why did AV keep Baca’s driver Helmond. [WLA edit.] Heard [WLA edit] they go to the same CHURCH.

    These actions by AV will truly drain the county and the Department because of the lawsuits by people who weren’t promoted (sergeants who scored band 1 only to be told AV doesn’t follow a legally binding MOU, however Sergeants in Band 6 were promoted because they are AV’s Bandido boys) or were retaliated against by a vindictive, insecure, inexperienced bonehead. Seems like the insecurities will be washed away if everyone’s career mirrors his.

    Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the circus run by your ringleader. God help us.

  • 415 Enigma,

    Your lack of experience is rearing its head. There’s no such thing as Band 6, and you need to check into a little civil service thing called “rule of 5,” (the county’s sanctioned way of skipping over undesirable candidates).

    You should calm down a little bit. You are acting like the opposition to President Trump. AV is staying right where he is, at least until the next election. The BOS will not be able to usurp the power of the people to elect and retain the sheriff. If anything, a reminder like that which was issued by Block to the BOS in an open session is in order – the sheriff is elected by all voters of the county, not just 1/5 of the voters like each supervisor.

    And his named is spelled HELLMOLD, an amazing survivor of 2 regimes post-Baca thus far.

  • @ Dose – Are you really comparing AV to Block ? Really !!! AV got elected because there was a blue wave across America. He pretended that he was some progressive Democrat and that was it. He lied to both LACDP and Latino community ( both on the sensitive issue of ICE in County jails ). They have realized that AV fooled them and have buyers remorse. One must be a cockeyed optimist to even compare AV to Block. The community knows him as the Bandido Sheriff who hires questionable Deputies on the force.

  • It’s more like the few readers on this blog know you to be 415 Enema. Villanueva doesn’t have to pretend to be progressive, he is and has always been. He was spot on with his ICE policy, both in the campaign and in office, and transfers to ICE custody are down 53% from a year ago, hard numbers that speak the truth. CHIRLA sings his praises, and they show no sign of damped enthusiasm. Quite the opposite, Sheriff Villanueva has become a symbol of pride in the Latino community, a success story of overcoming adversity and making the community safer for all. I know it kills you, but too friggin bad. Now go back to sulking in the back of the empty room at Civilian Oversight Commission hearings, LOL.

  • 415 Enigma,

    Your lack of experience in the department is only surpassed by your poor reading comprehension. I made no comparison between Block and AV. Instead, I brought up a historic event that you should have been aware of from the Block era to illustrate his power and influence. BTW, Block was successful in that appearance before the BOS by convincing them to approve a large pay increase for his deputies they had opposed.

    But since you mentioned comparing the two, here’s a better story from the late 1980s to demonstrate the difference between the power wielded by Block and AV:

    A deputy who suffered several on-duty injuries (including a GSW IIRC) decided to voluntarily demote to Services Assistant (remember that position?). After some months, he regretted the move and decided to transition back to deputy. He hit a snag with (shock of shockers) OHP. They said he wasn’t medically qualified. WTF? He had been medically cleared to return to duty as a deputy before, but now he magically wasn’t qualified. I witnessed the conversation between the employee and Block, who promptly got angry enough to turn red and storm off to his office. Block came back a few minutes later and told the employee to show up the following Monday in his deputy uniform. Block had told the OHP assholes how the cow eats the cabbage and that they better not fuck with him. They didn’t. In comparison, we’ve seen the relationship between AV and the BOS – they sued him.

    Making the jump from LT to sheriff is not an advisable one, but the man is sitting in the chair. How about we give him a chance to run the department without us whining like little bitches?

  • @ Dose – Just like you, two of my friends who went through similar experiences. It sucked for them. I think we have to look at why the BOS is suing AV. It is because he challenged them, and hired Mandoyan. It is because they think AV is taking the Department back to the days of tall Paul. We all supported AV when he made his decision to run against McD. However, from day one it has been one mis-guided decision after another.

  • I want to hear the Villanueva cult defend this. Not only does this make Villanueva look dishonest, which is a known character flaw for him, it also makes LASO as a whole look dishonest and not to be trusted. This is just another example as to why there is a constant stream of negative news articles written about him as sheriff. You are proving every article written against you to be true and accurate.

    THE CLAIM: “[Villanueva] called for the return of the metal flashlights that deputies once wielded as weapons.”

    THE FACTS: Sheriff Alex Villanueva has never called for the return of metal flashlights, and they are not in use in the county jail. The jail system is currently under federal oversight. All changes to any existing policies and procedures must be made with the approval of the federal monitors overseeing the settlement agreements.

    “I will give them the tools to defend themselves, and if that means adding the metal flashlight back in, by all means we will.”

    Check out the 17 minute mark here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDOniWy_Nuw.

    PS ALADS: don’t bother deleting the evidence, it’s been preserved.

  • @ Temple and Broadway,
    ALADS is trying to save face with their latest press release to L.A. Times Editorial on 12/30/19. If L.A. Times doesn’t matter to ALADS, then why a press release.
    As previously stated by another commenter, ALADS does not speak for the majority of deputies and here are three reasons.

    1) Every deputy is not a “voting member” in ALADS = dog whistle for deputies who chose to opt out, before and after the SCOTUS ruling in 2018.

    Many deputies are not in agreement with ALADS political backing and funding with the majority of deputies having no clue of what ALADS does until they get into trouble.

    2) Many deputies joined LASPA, the other deputy association who strays and stays away from political games, only focusing on defending and fighting for the the rights of deputies.

    3) ALADS does NOT speak on behalf of “1,000s” of retired deputies at all, as stated in their press release.
    A fact check would be in order before publishing such foolery.

    Every retired deputty that I know are relieved/happy to stop paying dues and finally being able to voice their own and NOT ALADS political views and opinions.

  • 415 Enigma:

    “I think we have to look at why the BOS is suing AV.”

    Reminds me of the BOS v. Lee Baca.

    The BOS put a measure on the ballot establishing term limits for the Sheriff, and the measure passed overwhelmingly; everybody thought the Sheriff was done.

    But he fought the measure in Court, and got a favorable ruling–the court ruled it unconstitutional to put term limits on the Sheriff.

    So much for that.

    Instead of being unseated via term limits…

    Lotsa newspaper articles on all that, mostly from the L.A. Times, and they can all be Googled:

    Lee Baca & term limits.

  • Ah, Temple and Broadway, another keyboard warrior who thinks he/she has a “gotcha” moment with our duly elected sheriff. Nice try, but I’m pretty sure our guy stands behind what he said and what he did. Five straight years of jail violence increases, staff being used as punching bags, and you want to defend the McDonnell approach of firing everyone? LOL, good one! Sheriff V called it right from the beginning and has the results to show for it.

    If you could set your hatred aside for one minute, maybe, just maybe, you will realize that Sheriff V gave them the tools to defend themselves, and never had to resort to reintroducing flashlights. Oh snaps! One year in office and jail violence is down DOUBLE DIGITS, after five years of a 204% increase in inmates assaulting staff, a 31% increase in inmates assaulting each other, and a 99% increase in uses of force.

    Gosh darn, what’s a hater to do these days? Oh, I suppose they can dig through past statements, or anti-cop articles written by theappeal.org back in April and try to sell it as something relevant today, but good luck with that. Californians like their sheriff’s departments, run by elected, not appointed sheriff’s, who serve at the pleasure of the VOTER, not five little kings and queens who never seem to answer to anyone.

  • Nothing like getting caught in a lie on a Monday. Didn’t you say Villanueva told the truth?

  • Amen n We Hope That’s What Happens. Sooner or later the BS should all be unburied, but no one is out there collecting the data.

  • @ Keep Dreaming- You are some wild possum eyed clown. You are not just an ordinary troll, but a AV lover who has slipped into the warm bath of conspiracy cray.

    Your depth of this dive into paranoia, propaganda, and alternate truths illustrates there must be something causing the cognitive dissonance between what you see in attacks on AV to what you want – and that is, no one should stand and criticize AV.

  • Temple and Broadway-Of course they are always writing bad articles about the Sheriff. Maybe it’s because he is pushing back and it’s something these people arent used to. Maybe it’s because he doesnt feed the LA Times with vital information that doesnt concern them. Or maybe they are upset because unlike the former Sheriff, AV isn’t PAYING the LA Times money to write positive stories about himself. It’s at least a couple things to consider.

  • Skippy – If you mean LA Times writing about AV’s re-hiring of Mandoyan and the 5 Deputies re-hired by AV. If you mean AV not holding the Bandidos accountable for their actions. If you mean he wants to take the Department back to the days of now convicted felon & former under- Sheriff Paul Tanaka. I hope they continue to write about his decisions. They come directly from AV.

  • “Ray Leyva is an excellent choice,” said Brian Moriguchi, the longtime former president of the Professional Peace Officers Association (PPOA), the supervisors union for the LA County Sheriffs Department. “I have known him for many years. He has the management skills, respect towards employees, and integrity necessary to lead a department during a difficult transition. He was a great undersheriff who tried to keep Sheriff Villanueva on an ethical path….It’s good to see the Board of Supervisors recognized his value.”

    My thoughts exactly. Eventually AV will trip over his ego and Ray Leyva will be in a good place to be tapped by the Board of Supervisors as AV’s replacement.

  • The second deputy rehired was Michel Courtial, and this is his story as told by ABC7 News

    https://abc7.com/5234724/

    Personally, I think AV made the right call on this one, and Courtial merits a big “ATTABOY” instead of what he got.

    Exactly what we expected from AV when he got elected.

  • Hahahaha… There’s two winners for you, Brian Moronguchi and Ray “the Rat” Leyva. I’ll bet anything Brian has already bartered a position from his boy Ray. I wonder what Ray’s 924 he hired will say about that. GTFOH. Why cant these power hungry idiots just go away. Brian has been begging everyone for a promotion. Maybe he’ll finally get one. Tic toc….

  • Ummmm…..I could be wrong here dude but we can be fairly certain that the Board of Supervisors cannot tap Ray Leyva as the Sheriff’s replacement because…..spoiler alert…..

    IT IS AN ELECTED POSITION.

    PS: God knows how badly I want to troll you LASD creeps, regardless of which side of AV you might take.

  • New a Year: I have never posted one article critical of Alex. I challenge you to produce one. I just opinionated that you sound like a very angry individual and I disagree with your opinion of Ray Leyva. Your up!

  • @ Bandwagon – Do not ever post an article critical of AV – You will never get promoted to A/S – just go balls-out – two fisted filled with a sense of appreciation of AV, as the best Sheriff to ever run the Department. A great leader. Boost his ego. You may promote to A/S.

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