Shakeup at L.A. County Sheriff's Department Draws Ire of Unions

Alex Villanueva began his term as Los Angeles County Sheriff by immediately removing 18 top executives within the department. He has told all lieutenants, captains and commanders on his staff to hand in forms that detail their years of experience. The fill-in-the-blank résumés will be used to determine whether the officials will remain in their position, or be reassigned, including to lower levels for a set period of time. In an even more jarring move, Villanueva has told the supervisors to temporarily remove a part of their uniforms some of them have worked decades to earn: the gold pins on their collars to indicate their rank. While Villanueva said these moves are intended to shake up conventional thinking among the top brass, others believe it is not only demoralizing but potentially dangerous. "If we had a riot... there would be chaos. There would be no leadership. There would be confusion about who's in charge," said Lt. Brian Moriguchi, president of the Professional Peace Officers Association, the union that represents sergeants, lieutenants and other department staff. The PPOA directly opposed Villanueva's election. This move does not directly affect rank-and-file deputies, whose union, the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, supported Villanueva's campaign. With these moves, Villanueva is making good on his campaign promise to shake up the department. In a historic upset, he beat incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell, the first time an incumbent sheriff in L.A. had lost their seat in more than a century. Villanueva, a Democrat, characterized McDonnell as a Republican (although he is an independent), capitalizing on the county's disdain for President Trump. "We owe a lot of [our success] to Trump... Where did Democrats in L.A. County have to go to express their displeasure with Trump?" said Javier Gonzalez, the campaign strategist for Citizens PAC, a group that channeled funding from labor organizations, including the Services Employees International Union, to promote Villanueva.