Just when we thought the most disastrous term under a sitting Sheriff in the history of the department couldn’t get any worse, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has hit another new low.
Late Saturday night, a chilling radio call came in: 902A – possible suicide. Responding deputies arrived at the scene in Pico Rivera to find Deputy Hernandez, assigned to the North County Correctional Facility (NCCF), with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Despite the paramedics efforts, Hernandez died at the scene.
This is the 13th suicide on Sheriff Robert Luna’s watch in just 17 months – and the death toll keeps rising. That’s nearly one suicide every six weeks. Not at the hands of dangerous gangbangers on the streets, but from a toxic, broken system that’s been ignored and whitewashed at every turn.
This is a level of rock bottom no one could’ve imagined for what was once considered the most prestigious sheriff’s department in the world.
While Deputies Die, Luna Plays Politics
On May 6, 2025, Sheriff Robert Luna stood shoulder-to-shoulder with law enforcement brass at the California Peace Officers’ Memorial in Sacramento, bowing his head and laying a wreath like a man who understands sacrifice. But back in Los Angeles, his own department was crumbling – and his public display of grief rang hollow.
Not a word was uttered about the historic mental health collapse at the LASD under his command. This was just another staged moment for his reelection reel. Luna has proven time and again it will never be about protecting his deputies. It’s about protecting his political future.
Don’t be fooled. Luna’s appearance at the memorial wasn’t a tribute. It was a performance. A carefully staged photo op by a sheriff whose leadership has overseen one of the most catastrophic mental health crises in department history.
13 Suicides. Zero Accountability.
Since Luna took office in December 2022, thirteen LASD deputies and staff have died by suicide — and counting. In one horrific 24-hour stretch in November 2023, four lives were lost.
Inside the department, the mood is pure devastation. Morale is in the gutter. Deputies feel abandoned. Betrayed.
And sources say Luna knows it – reportedly telling executives, “I know everyone thinks I’m a phony.” Deputies have confirmed that sentiment publicly – and privately. Quite a few have even told him to his face.
The question now isn’t whether Luna’s leadership is failing. The question is how many more will die before anyone at the top takes responsibility.
“Just a Deputy” – Just a Scapegoat
As tragedy after tragedy unfolded, the department turned into a pressure cooker of suppressed grief, unchecked exhaustion, and exploding morale issues. Anonymous “Just a Deputy” letters began circulating throughout the ranks and on social media, exposing Luna’s failures in graphic detail. The third letter, released in the wake of the November suicides, painted a grim picture:
“We work multiple overtime shifts a week, often only getting a couple hours of sleep between continuous double shifts… We are frequently denied time off… Our leadership sides with criminals while condemning us.”
The letter didn’t stop there – it exposed more horrors: from deputies denied adequate time off to grieve Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer’s murder, to a preventable explosion that left two deputies clinging to life in a jail range trailer because a $25,000 electrical upgrade was “deemed unnecessary.”
And Luna? According to insiders, he landed at Lancaster Station the day of the suicides – not to grieve, but to catch a helicopter to a meeting with an anti-law enforcement community group.
Betrayal runs deep.
This isn’t Luna’s first rodeo with a mental health crisis. Retired Long Beach PD personnel recall similar patterns under his command there. At LASD, his response to the wave of suicides has been a now-infamous department-wide email filled with platitudes and hotline numbers.
He told media:
“We are urgently exploring avenues to reduce work stress factors.”
But behind the scenes, sources say the real focus has been on a bureaucratic “restructuring” designed to empower allies of former Sheriff Jim McDonnell—further alienating Luna from rank-and-file deputies.
A 24% Vacancy Rate = A 100% Morale Collapse
This week, Assistant Sheriff Jason Skeen dropped the hammer at the Civilian Oversight Commission meeting: 4,166 vacancies. That’s 24% of the department’s authorized staffing simply gone.
“For every three people, they have to do the duties of one additional person,” Skeen said. No spin. No PR varnish. Just the cold, brutal reality of a workforce being run into the ground.
Since Luna took office, LASD’s operational capacity has spiraled. Authorized to staff over 17,000 positions, the department is limping along at barely 75% strength. Patrols are stretched thin, jails are understaffed, specialized units are gutted, and those still showing up to work are shouldering impossible workloads.
Mandatory overtime is now a way of life. Deputies are being crushed under endless shifts – six days a week, 16 to 18 hours a day, sometimes going weeks without a single day off. The mental and physical toll is crushing.
Families of the fallen are now holding the county accountable. The family of Deputy Arturo Atilano-Valadez has filed a wrongful death claim, directly tying his suicide to the department’s relentless overtime demands and refusal to grant requested transfers.
In 2023, the family of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, who was ambushed and murdered in September, filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles County. Their claim is clear: LASD’s relentless mandatory overtime policies left Ryan vulnerable, overworked, and exposed. His murder, they argue, was not just a random act of violence, but a tragic consequence of a department that prioritizes appearances over personnel.
Luna’s Legacy: Politics First, People Last
Luna claims he is a reformer, but in reality, he is a failure.
This isn’t reform. It’s rot.
And it’s not just about suicide – it’s about a department bleeding from the inside out.
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