County Oversight Members Call For Sheriff Villanueva To Resign

LOS ANGELES, CA — As questions continue to swirl around excessive force and accountability issues within the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, several members of the civilian commission that oversees the agency are calling for Sheriff Alex Villanueva's resignation. Members of the Civilian Oversight Commission say Villanueva has "no effective relationship" with the County Board of Supervisors and that he has repeatedly pushed back against oversight and increased transparency.

"It's with great reluctance that I'm calling for Sheriff Villanueva to resign," Commissioner Robert Bonner said. "The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department itself deserves better."

Members of the committee pointed to misinformation from the Sheriff's Department about the arrest of Josie Huang as one of many reasons why Villanueva could not be trusted. Inspector General Max Huntsman said he is still waiting for additional materials from LASD about the incident, and admitted he's questioning earlier statements made by the agency.

"Unfortunately, all evidence we have currently gathered suggests that significant parts of the claims made by the (sheriff's) department may have been false," Huntsman told the commission. "The information we have gathered is preliminary and not intended to substitute for a complete investigation."

On September 12, Huang was flung to the ground and pinned down by several sheriffs while recording a nearby arrest on her phone. While she was in custody, LASD put out a statement claiming Huang had attempted to interfere with an arrest and hadn't identified herself as a member of the press.

However, video footage from the scene shows Huang repeatedly screaming she's with KPCC. County Supervisor Shiela Kuehl expressed her lack of faith in the sheriff following release of the footage.

"I think it's now incontrovertible that the sheriff has essentially been lying about so many of these things and has (been) shown to be lying by video recording," Kuehl said.

The Civilian Oversight Commission could take an official vote of "no-confidence" next week.

Hours after the announcement, LASD posted a response on its website.

"It is becoming painfully obvious this commission is acting in retaliation against the sheriff for his efforts in investigating potential criminal conduct from county officials and for challenging the legality of subpoenaing the sheriff himself versus the LASD. The sheriff will remain focused on serving the residents of Los Angeles County as he leads the department in investigating the ambush, overseeing the response to the Bobcat Fire evacuations, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact to the jail system."

Villanueva attempted to brush off the statements Thursday afternoon.

"They're just part of the echo chamber of the board," the sheriff said. "And unfortunately, the route they take is not one that's going to engender goodwill ... between myself or the organization, because there's a fine line being a watchdog and an attack dog."

However, pressure for Villanueva to resign has been mounting from several groups within Los Angeles. ACLU SoCal, Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles, and over 60 additional labor unions and community groups called for his resignation in June after the shooting of Andres Guardado by LASD deputies.

“We know an abusive and unjust sheriff when we see one,” said Kurt Petersen, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, who wrote the letter. “Our union successfully unseated Sheriff Arpaio in Arizona in 2016 and we are ready to do the same with Villanueva.”

City News Service and Kenan Draughorne contributed to this report.