Sheriff Villanueva says department is underfunded, understaffed

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Tuesday that his section is underfunded and understaffed during a clip that Los Angeles County is successful request of “more instrumentality enforcement presence” to guarantee nationalist safety.

The sheriff said during a property league that he’s acrophobic with rising convulsive crime, arsenic the section is successful the midst of a hiring freeze, combined with unit retirements oregon leaving to different departments. This year’s fund removed 1,281 positions, not including 379 sworn retirements truthful acold this year, Villanueva said.

“We are shrinking arsenic a instrumentality enforcement agency,” helium said. “At a clip erstwhile we request much instrumentality enforcement presence.”

There person been 236 homicides from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 this year, a 46.6 percent summation compared to past year, according to the Sheriff’s Department statistics.

“Everyone who wonders astir their cases languishing, oregon the detectives don’t look to beryllium making immoderate progress, oregon determination are dilatory effect clip to calls for service,” Villanueva said. “Remember that the staffing exemplary impacts nationalist safety.”

The Sheriff’s Department got astir $3.5 cardinal this fiscal twelvemonth successful funding, with $3.4 cardinal past year, according to Villanueva. While the numbers themselves aren’t importantly different, some of those fiscal years magnitude to 8.9 percent of the county’s full budget, compared to 11.4 percent successful 2012-13, helium said.

This county’s fund for this fiscal twelvemonth was $39.3 billion.

Villanueva blamed the county’s Board of Supervisors for wanting to “defund” instrumentality enforcement.

“The facts talk for themselves,” County Supervisor Janice Hahn said successful a statement, citing the magnitude of backing the Sheriff’s Department got this twelvemonth and past year.

Los Angeles County has the largest Sheriff’s Department successful the nation, with astir 18,000 employees.

The section presently has astir 9,850 sworn employees, but that fig should beryllium supra 10,300, Villanueva said. The sheriff’s 25 patrol stations dispersed passim the region are besides 71 percent staffed, helium said.