LOS ANGELES, CA — Alex Villanueva, 63, is vying to be elected as the Los Angeles County sheriff.
In the June 2 primary, incumbent Sheriff Robert Luna is facing seven challengers: Villanueva, Eric Strong, Oscar Antonio Martinez, Brendan Corbett, Mike Bornman, André N. White and Karla Carranza.
Learn more about Villanueva's goals for Los Angeles County:
What is your educational background?
What is your professional background?
Have you ever held public office, whether appointive or elective?
What are the top three public safety challenges the next sheriff of Los Angeles County will need to address?
How should the Sheriff’s Department handle use-of-force incidents, and what changes, if any, would you make to current policies or oversight?
Every incident needs to be documented and investigated objectively. Based on the results take administrative action when warranted, refer the individual involved to training if there was an issue identified best resolved by training. In the event of a claim of excessive force, seek an assessment from Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau and submit findings to the DA's Justice System Integrity Division for an impartial analysis of the use of force in question.
How should the Sheriff’s Department respond to calls involving mental health crises or homelessness, and what role should deputies play?
Deputies play an important role in providing public safety while responding to calls for service involving mental illnesses and/or homelessness, which tend to go hand in hand. Our Homeless Outreach Services Team does an outstanding job in clearing up encampments, assessing each resident's needs and refer them to shelter placement, all in collaboration with homeless service providers and the Department of Mental Health and Veteran's Affairs. No arrests or uses of force have been needed in getting the homeless to accept shelter and services, and no arrests have been made in these clean ups.
The Mental Observation Teams successfully pair non-uniformed deputy personnel with licensed clinicians who can interact with those in crisis, lower the room temperature, and get the individual involved the help they need without escalating the situation. The challenge is to get 24/7 coverage countywide, as these MET teams have proven their effectiveness in reducing deadly encounters, uses of force, and unnecessary conflict with those experiencing a mental health crisis.
What changes, if any, would you make to improve conditions and safety in county jails, including for both inmates and staff?
Bring up staffing levels to the point we can satisfy the obligations of the consent decrees and Title 15 standards would be an obvious starting point. Improving the physical conditions of the jails, including tearing down Men's Central Jail and replacing it with a similarly secured facility is a must.
Rethinking the whole creation of the "Correctional Health Services" and evaluate the effectiveness of creating an additional layer of bureaucracy without expanding needed medical and mental health services.
Do you believe deputy gangs, cliques or other formal or informal groups are a problem within the Sheriff's Department today? If so, what additional steps are needed to address them?
The deputy gang narrative was a calculated political hoax designed to defame the department and weaponize county assets in order to justify defunding the LASD and generate calls for removing the sitting sheriff. To date not a single deputy has been identified as a gang member, in spite of years of time and money devoted to claiming they existed and even run patrol stations.
Tattoos do not make a person a gang member, it is misconduct that identifies a gang member or an entire gang. The Civilian Oversight Commission made the astonishing claim that one out of every six deputies (!) was a gang member, a number that is laughable at best. Every large paramilitary organization, including the LASD, LAPD, LAFD and the NYPD have station tattoos and logos, just like the military and college fraternities.
The LASD is no different, and now the incumbent sheriff, the board of supervisors, and the COC are trying to shift the narrative towards "secret groups," a clear indication that the gang narrative has fallen apart under close scrutiny.
Why are you a better choice than your opponents?
I was sheriff from 2018 through 2022, one of the most contentious times in law enforcement across the nation. I fought off multiple attempts to defund the department, even as the LASD was defending the county from being overrun by rioters. I opposed the vaccine mandate, pushed through critical reforms such as the body worn camera program and the public facing transparency portal of the department's website. These innovations were a first in many regards and affirmed my commitment towards transparency and good governance.
I turned a massive budget deficit into a budget surplus. Hired over a thousand deputies during my first year on the job, and had sufficient personnel to lead the department through the pandemic, civil unrest, and the defunding fad. We achieved full staffing by April of 2020, a milestone no previous sheriff had ever met. Morale was sky high as we drove down crime rates across all of Los Angeles County.
I'm a firm believer in servant leadership, and we need to return to that leadership style and save the department from the path of destruction the incumbent has placed it on.
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