The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) is facing its most serious reckoning in decades. What started as a trickle of anonymous letters from frustrated rank-and-file deputies has now erupted into a full-scale meltdown of leadership credibility.
The latest open letter, published and circulated widely on social media, rips into ALADS leadership for what deputies describe as weak, tone-deaf, and complicit bargaining with Los Angeles County officials.
The anonymous deputy, writing under the blunt header “An Open Letter to ALADS From a Deputy Who’s Had Enough,” accuses the union of failing its members at every turn. “Let’s not sugarcoat it. ALADS is failing us. Period,” the letter begins, calling out the most recent “update” from union leaders as little more than fluff designed to pacify angry members.
EMPTY WINS, REAL LOSSES
The letter contrasts ALADS’ so-called progress with the concrete victories achieved by other law enforcement unions. Inglewood PD secured a 15 percent raise this year, with more increases locked in for the next three years. Riverside County deputies are already seeing 19 percent raises. LAPD officers walked away with a contract worth nearly a billion dollars, with built-in recruitment and retention incentives. Even Anaheim PD, a department far smaller than LASD, landed 30 percent cadet raises and a package of longevity and hiring bonuses.
Meanwhile, ALADS’ message to deputies? That they had “refused to take a zero.” The anonymous deputy dismissed this as an insult: “Congratulations. That should have been the bare minimum from day one. You’re celebrating surviving the first round while everyone else is winning championships.”
THE COST OF COMPLICITY
The deputy also points to a deeper betrayal. While the Board of Supervisors pleads poverty, they simultaneously approved a half-billion-dollar renovation of the county’s glass tower headquarters. That money alone, the letter notes, could have funded raises and new recruits. “They know it. You know it. But nobody’s willing to say it in the room,” the deputy wrote.
The criticism doesn’t stop at economics. The letter accuses ALADS of enabling dangerous conditions: ignoring the staffing crisis, rampant overtime abuse, and unchecked attrition. “This department is crumbling. The numbers don’t lie. Hiring is nonexistent. Attrition is at a crisis point. Morale is so low it’s in the dirt. And yet, ALADS still thinks the status quo is good enough.”
A PATTER OF REVOLT
This is not the first time deputies have taken matters into their own hands. As The Current Report has documented, the “Just a Deputy” letters that began circulating in 2023, and have become a barometer of discontent inside LASD. Those letters highlighted skyrocketing suicides, internal corruption, and deep resentment toward Sheriff Robert Luna’s leadership. Each one landed like a bombshell, exposing fractures ALADS and the County could no longer ignore.
The latest letter represents an escalation: not just airing grievances but calling ALADS complicit. “You’re not even ineffective – you’re complicit,” the deputy charged.
THE BREAKING POINT
For deputies, the message is clear: they no longer trust ALADS to fight for them. “We want action. We want results. We want you to act like you actually represent us. Or step aside and let someone else who isn’t scared to fight take your place.”
As attrition worsens, morale continues to crater, and deputies continue to shoulder unsafe workloads, the union’s credibility crisis deepens. The anonymous letter ends with a damning conclusion:
“You’re not protecting us. You’re placating the county while the rest of us bleed.”
With ALADS facing revolt from within and rising public scrutiny, the question now is not whether deputies are angry—it’s how much longer ALADS leadership can cling to power before rank-and-file pressure forces a reckoning.
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