Thursday with the League

Last year in this space, we learned of the problems of enforcing the accountability of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) from L.A. County Civilian Oversight Commissioner Sean Kennedy. Since then, these problems have persisted and intensified. As Kennedy notes in a recent article, Sheriff Alex Villanueva “has refused to comply with subpoenas to testify and produce records regarding deputy gangs—even after courts have held that he is obligated to do so—and resisted oversight focused on reining in the gangs.” The issues of “deputy gangs” at local stations, LASD’s resistance to providing records needed for required oversight, the refusal to require first responders to become vaccinated against the coronavirus, and the LASD’s threats to investigate critics of LASD or the sheriff continue to roil the relationship between the sheriff and county leaders.

The Board of Supervisors has sought to remove the sheriff, and the Civilian Oversight Commission (COC) has called for his resignation. The state attorney general has stepped into the fray between LASD and county oversight bodies. The dean of the U.C. Berkeley School of Law has urged the Board of Supervisors to immediately submit a county charter change to allow removal of the sheriff for serious misconduct. The COC has marshaled an independent task force of heavyweight attorneys to search for evidence of the gangs that the LASD cannot seem to find.

So where are we now? What are next steps in enforcing governance accountability? Is appointment, rather than election, of the sheriff the answer to securing accountability to the public and its elected leaders? Should the LASD follow the model of the Los Angeles Police Department? The LAPD works collaboratively with the Los Angeles Police Commission, which is authorized to appoint, or fire, the chief of police.

To help us sort out all of this, we are pleased to welcome L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman as our guest speaker at the May 5 Thursday with the League. Huntsman, L.A. County’s first inspector general, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors in 2013 to oversee what has for decades been a troubled and troubling county sheriff’s department. The Inspector General’s Office is also tasked with issuing reports recommending reforms in county mental health care and medical care in jails, as well as oversight of skilled nursing homes and the Probation Department.

Under Huntsman’s supervision, the Office of Inspector General has fought efforts to conceal the existence of secret gang-like organizations in the LASD, has challenged LASD’s resistance to providing records needed for its oversight mandate, and has enlisted the aid of the state attorney general in investigating the motivations behind LASD’s reciprocal investigations of Huntsman and other critics.

Register now to join us on May 5 via Zoom. We will hear Inspector General Huntsman’s take on the concerted efforts to enforce accountability of the Sheriff’s Department, whether we are making progress, what next steps he considers necessary to get there—and the role good governance groups like the League of Women Voters can play.

— Kris Ockershauser and Bonnie Skolnik, Policing Practices Subcommittee, Social Justice Committee

We encourage you to sign up for this virtual event as you prepare to vote in the June 7 Primary Election. You can also see seven of the nine candidates for L.A. County Sheriff in a candidates forum aired by CBS on April 20, at https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/meet-the-candidates-la-county-s....