As the general election looms, Robert Luna and Alex Villanueva are doing their best to sway voters in their sheriff race.
Luna, the incumbent Los Angeles County sheriff, is seeking a second term in the November runoff after leading the June primary with about 44 percent of the vote. The former Long Beach police chief was elected sheriff in 2022 on a reform platform and emphasizes department accountability, jail reform, and violent-crime reduction.
In an interview with Southern California News Group, Luna discussed several topics, including homelessness and overcrowded county jails.
“Our Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) demonstrates what this approach can accomplish. In the past year, HOST contacted more than 4,500 individuals and conducted 420 encampment operations while connecting people with essential services and long-term support.” Luna said. “We will continue this work and strengthen partnerships with County agencies, service providers, and our communities.”
Luna continued by stating, “We can also impact homelessness through how we care for people in our custody. Many people experiencing homelessness struggle with mental illness, substance use, and other challenges that contribute to homelessness and recidivism. That is another reason I support developing a Correctional Care Center with appropriate treatment and programming.”
Luna also wants to keep crime reduction as a priority if reelected. “Since I took office, violent crime has fallen each year in areas patrolled by LACSD, for an overall decrease of 7 percent. And, during my term, homicides are down 25 percent. Our clearance rates, or the percentage of reported crimes that are solved, for both violent and property crimes, have increased.” Luna continued. “We adopted new policies and procedures, including a crime strategy unit, a retail theft task force, and improved Metro safety and ridership.”
Villanueva is a 36-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who served as the 33rd Sheriff from 2018 to 2022. His tenure was overshadowed by controversy and scandal. He launched, then walked back, a criminal leak investigation of a Los Angeles Times reporter and was ordered to testify after sheriff’s deputies took and shared pictures at the site of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash. Villanueva defied subpoenas over so-called deputy gangs.
When asked how he feels about crime, Villanueva said that while the numbers show crime is down, what he sees suggests otherwise. “It’s popping up right now every day. We have the street takeovers, we have the looting that’s going down left and right,” Villanueva said, adding that as sheriff, he’d restore order and be “focused on making sure the community stays safe.”
Villanueva points to the lack of police staff as the reason for the lack of community safety. “They’re being asked to do too much, and there’s no support at all,” Villanueva said. “The fact is there are just no people left; there are no deputies left to respond to emergent situations.”
Villanueva added that the number of unfilled sworn positions at the department has risen since he was sheriff. County and Sheriff’s Department records confirm that sworn vacancies more than doubled during Villanueva’s term, from about 477 in December 2018 to 1,069 by Nov. 9, 2022, and that Luna has presided over a further increase to 1,452 three years later.
