“Small mistakes, the lack of care, little accidents, and somewhere a tipping point is passed, and things go badly wrong.” – Alan S. Kesselheim
Recently, I heard someone voice the opinion that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had “dropped off a cliff” as the result of the federal criminal trial and conviction of Deputy Trevor Kirk on charges of Deprivation of Civil Rights Under the Color of Authority.
While the circumstances do indeed represent a seismic paradigm shift in police/community relations, I believe that the genesis of this phenomenon had occurred on the day that Robert Luna was sworn in as the 34th Sheriff of Los Angeles County. This was the day that a liberal, arguably anti-cop and so-called law enforcement executive took the reins of what was once the premier policing agency in the nation.
Throughout his campaign for office, Luna berated the agency that he hoped to one day lead. He expressed the opinion that the Department was rife with racist cops, even opining that the phrase “the thin Blue Line” was somehow steeped in racism. He accused the rank and file of abusing the public trust and routinely employing excessive force on suspects.
We only need to look back at his campaign’s “Five Priorities” to get clues into his mindset:
Restore Public Trust in the Sheriff
How can people trust a department whose own Sheriff holds it in contempt?
Reform the Department
If by “reform” he meant destroying morale and hastening the Department’s decay, he’s doing a bang-up job.
Reduce Violent Crime
By all accounts, overall crime is up… and rising. Or maybe we are imagining the rampant violence, follow-home robberies, street takeovers, streets filled with the drugged out and mentally ill, and gangs entering stores and attacking them like locusts, stripping the walls bare.
Address Homelessness
He’s addressed it alright. There are more homeless people wandering the streets of LA County than at any other time in our history.
Improve Deputy and Employee Wellness
How many employee suicides have we had during this Sheriff’s tenure? Ten or more? Sheriff, that is NOT improvement.
Due to overwork, overwhelming hurdles to doing their jobs, lack of support, lack of equipment, lack of training mandates being met, lack of sleep, deputies are dropping like flies. They are lateralling out of the department, retiring early, or simply resigning, all at historic levels. Watch out for this coming March and April, when the department will lose hundreds of personnel due to retirement. At this point, the Department cannot recruit, hire, train and retain the people necessary to ensure healthy organization.
Based on his own measures of success, his “Priorities,” this Sheriff has been an absolute failure. It’s not like this is some strange result and no one could have seen it coming. This is the same man who got up before an audience and proudly proclaimed that disgraced and recently fired uber liberal progressive District Attorney, George Gascon, has been his career-long BFF and mentor.
This is the same Sheriff who stood up at a press conference and couldn’t even properly pronounce the name of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, the deputy who was ambushed and murdered while sitting in his patrol car. This is also the same Sheriff who had quietly stood by with his hands in his pockets (and no doubt whistling a tune), when Gascon committed the gravest betrayal of all by refusing to file a death penalty case against the murderer. Do you recall the eulogy Luna gave at Clink’s funeral? Do you remember that his words were met with absolute, deafening silence? And deservedly so.
I am writing this article for two distinct purposes. This first is to call out this Sheriff for his lackluster time spent at the helm of the LASD. It is my humble opinion that he does not deserve to be reelected to office next year. He has a proven track record of doing nothing to take the department into the future. He has not proven that he is up to the task of leading this once great organization. He is decidedly out of his depth. The Department simply cannot survive another term with this individual in the top spot.
My second reason for writing this article is to relay a message to the troops, the line cops who do the heavy lifting. This Sheriff has proven time and again that he does not hold you or your department in high regard. In spite of his obvious failures, you need to remember why you joined the LASD. You wanted to help others. You wanted to hold the “thin Blue Line” against all forms of lawlessness. You wanted to be part of something important, something special. I’m here to remind you that you ARE.
Weak leadership can destroy an organization. Fortunately for all of us, weak leaders come and then they go. Our sworn personnel are the life’s blood of the organization, not the weak individual currently holding the top spot. Now is the time for your solidarity and your professionalism.
Yes, we have reached the tipping point for the organization. Too many little things ignored. Too many little mistakes and accidents. The one good thing that stands out with this situation is that after the tipping (beyond the tipping point), there is opportunity for change. Continue to be the professionals we all know you to be. This recent election season has shown us the passing of Proposition 36, the utter defeat of the liberal and insufferable
DA, and the promise of much better things to come.
Stand your ground. Stand tall during adverse times.
Remember above all else, that things tip both ways.
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