Ian Patrick, FISM News
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently voted in favor of a measure to terminate unvaccinated police deputies in the county. The vote on Thursday was 4-0 in favor with one abstention.
The motion from the board details how an August COVID-19 vaccine compliance order was adhered to by all LA County departments, except for the Sheriff’s Department. It says, “While more than 90% of the employees in approximately one dozen County departments are fully vaccinated, less than 60% of the employees in the Sheriff’s Department are fully vaccinated.”
“Unsurprisingly, approximately 74% of the more than 5,000 COVID-19-related workers’ compensation claims filed by County employees as of January 29, 2022, have been filed by employees in the Sheriff’s Department,” it continued.
“Increased compliance with the Policy is critical to combating the COVID-19 emergency, as the virus remains an ongoing and evolving threat to the County workforce and community.”
With this in mind the motion hands the Director of Personnel, or someone designated by the Director, power “to discipline the employees of any County department for noncompliance with the County’s Policy or directives related to the Policy.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva spoke out against the motion before the board voted on it, saying it would be a “deathblow” to his already dwindling force.
In a virtual LA County Board meeting on Tuesday, Villanueva tried to convince the supervisors that this motion would be detrimental to the policing in the county:
Item number 18 is going to be a deathblow to public safety in Los Angeles County. Right now we are facing 897 sworn vacancies, 893 professional staff vacancies as of April 1st, assuming no further people call…sign up for retirement. We’re already at impairments of over 1500 personnel due to the long term IODs and so-forth.
He further said that LA is “coming off two years of a historically high 94% increase in the homicide rate, 64% increase in grand theft auto” and said the situation his officers are facing is “not sustainable.” He asked for the board to find common ground, such as the testing and vaccination that his office has implemented.
Villanueva released a statement after the vote further lambasting the board’s decision:
Today the Board of Supervisors followed through on their threat and voted 4-0 (1 abstention) to form a suicide pact and start the process to fire 4,000 deputies for not being vaccinated. Showing deliberate indifference to the obvious impact on public safety, the Board hid behind an alleged threat to public safety they couldn’t back up with data. Tellingly, the Board’s own County Counsel (Rodrigo Castro-Silva) couldn’t offer even a basic legal opinion on the legality of the Board’s motion, or the obvious legal challenges they will face.