“For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of the horse the rider was lost; and for want of the rider, the battle was lost.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1757
These days, it seems not a week goes by without another nail being lost by LASD management. This past week, for example, a report was issued that showed response times to calls for service in all patrol divisions have continued to rise. It came as no surprise that the reason for this dismal statistic was the fact that the department has been, and continues to be, in a rudderless freefall.
Personnel are still being stretched way too thin, getting too little rest, and receiving even less true leadership from the Sheriff and his executive staff. These delays in response to critical calls for service are not the fault of the line personnel who continue to do the job despite the crippling lack of support and positive direction from their “leadership.”
Anyone who has been paying attention to the dreadful fall of the once proud LASD over the past few years will see clearly what has been happening… little by little… bit by bit …piece by piece, as the current sheriff has seemingly done everything in his power to degrade, dismiss, ignore, browbeat, and diminish the personnel under his command. It is shameful what has been happening.
Crumbling infrastructure
State mandated training being abandoned
Hundreds of personnel boycotting Baker to Vegas Run
Inability to recruit, hire, train and retain personnel
1400+ sworn vacancies
1400+ professional staff vacancies
Morale at an all-time low
Deputies resigning, retiring, lateralling at historic rates
Bus fleet of 80+ down to less than 10
Soul-crushing overtime is still the name of the game
Personnel frustrated over his inability to make timely decisions
His failure to support his personnel publicly
His cozy association with fired DA Geoge Gascon
That’s a whole lot of nails lost on a whole lot of shoes, and in a very short while.
With all these failures going on, it came as no surprise to me that the Sheriff recently announced his decision to run for reelection. His announcement came very early in the upcoming election cycle, which frankly tells me that he recognizes he has serious vulnerabilities and credibility issues that may cause him issues regarding support and donations. I believe he is testing the waters to see how his support is… or isn’t… shaping up.
I can’t help but think back to when this sheriff violated POBAR when he discussed an ongoing administrative investigation into an incident out of Lancaster Station, as he incredulously met with radical activists from BLM and Cancel the Contract… and their attorney, providing them confidential information into the case. The activists then took to social media to gloat over the fact that Luna told them they had “gotten the deputy fired.” This was obviously not the case, and FOX 11 News (to their credit) were required to modify the statement they had published on X (formerly Twitter). And no, the deputy was not fired.
Then we have the recent dustup Luna had with investigative reporter Cece Woods, wherein he made a lame attempt to intimidate her into withdrawing an article she had written which relayed reports that he is possibly suffering from some unknown ailment that may cause him not to seek reelection. After she forcefully pushed back with facts, he and his law firm (which employs his daughter – surprise!) dropped the matter like a hot rock.
This sheriff simply cannot get out of his own way. He has alienated his personnel, pandered to the radicals, cozied up to the politicians, and generally made a mess of everything he has touched. It’s not surprising, considering he came from an agency with about 600 sworn officers and fewer than 1200 personnel. The LASD boasts an employee count of nearly 18,000. He appears to have been hoping to learn the job through OJT (on the job training). It’s not working.
Here’s a little secret, sheriff: Hope is not a strategy. Your people need concrete, workable solutions. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
So many nails….
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