Sheriff Villanueva says he wants deputies to oversee all Metro law enforcement

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said helium wants his section to instrumentality implicit each policing duties connected the county’s nationalist buses and trains during a live-streamed league Wednesday, Dec. 1., arguing his unit members are the champion equipped for the occupation and that the alteration would prevention millions of taxation dollars.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation committee is presently successful a declaration with the Sheriff’s Department, arsenic good arsenic the Los Angeles and Long Beach constabulary departments to oversee its nationalist information and instrumentality enforcement. The committee volition ballot connected a $75 million, six-month hold for the declaration astatine its Thursday meeting.

Of that, Los Angeles constabulary would person astir $38.6 million, the Sheriff’s Department $32.8 cardinal and Long Beach constabulary $3.7 million.

As it stands, moving each instrumentality enforcement operations to the Sheriff’s Department is not connected the Metro board’s agenda.

“Staff has recommended that our Board o.k. backing the remaining six months of our instrumentality enforcement contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Long Beach Police Department,” LA Metro said successful a statement, “as good arsenic authorize an hold of up to one-year. We judge this volition springiness Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee capable clip to finalize its semipermanent recommendations.”

Villanueva said to followers connected Facebook and Instagram Wednesday that if the Sheriff’s Department took implicit each Metro’s instrumentality enforcement operations, helium could prevention up to $30 cardinal annually successful taxation dollars and presume jurisdiction implicit routes presently policed by the LAPD and LBPD.

The Sheriff’s Department oversaw each Metro enforcement until 2017, erstwhile Los Angeles and Long Beach constabulary departments took immoderate of the jurisdiction.

The sheriff accused Los Angeles constabulary of racking up $75 cardinal successful overtime wages, but it wasn’t wide what span of clip that was.

Los Angeles and Long Beach constabulary did not instantly respond to comment.

The LASD’s Transit Services Bureau operates connected a 24-hour schedule, truthful Villanueva said his section does not complaint Metro for overtime.

“I’m going to suggest and we’re going to taxable this successful penning to the MTA board, we’re going to suggest policing the full contract,” helium said. “The full system, conscionable similar we did anterior to 2017. We’re going to bash it with a full-time staff.”

Villanueva argued his section is the champion equipped to grip nationalist information connected buses and trains. He highlighted LASD teams each specially trained to respond to acts of terrorism, radical having intelligence wellness crises and outreach to the stateless population.

“There’s going to beryllium a continuity of work providers,” helium said, “continuity of jurisdiction, of connection and each the bells and whistles that travel with contracting with the Sheriff’s Department.”

County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said the Metro committee made that determination to declaration with the 3 agencies successful 2017 due to the fact that it made much consciousness to person section instrumentality enforcement constabulary their areas.

“The reasoning (at the time) was it’s amended to person section instrumentality enforcement covering those stations and those autobus lines,” she said successful a Wednesday interview, “because they tin beryllium successful the presumption oregon adjacent the station. The flexibility for instrumentality enforcement was better. It was not thing against the sheriff astatine the time, but it conscionable made consciousness to us.”

Kuehl said she believes it continues to marque consciousness going forward.

County Supervisor Janice Hahn besides added an amendment to the instrumentality enforcement contract, requiring that the agencies necessitate a COVID vaccine for deputies oregon officers.

While a vaccine mandate is successful spot for each region employees, Villanueva has pushed backmost connected the mandate for his deputies.

“It’s rather amusing to maine that the sheriff mightiness deliberation that his officers ought to person the full scope of instrumentality enforcement connected Metro,” Kuehl said. “When helium can’t adjacent conscionable the vaccination requirements for the small portion that helium has.”

Villanueva repeated disapproval for different program projected by an advertisement hoc LA Metro committee that would regenerate constabulary and deputies connected transit lines with civilian “public information ambassadors.” He suggested that eliminating instrumentality enforcement would exacerbate a rising inclination of assaults against transit unit and passengers. He said determination person been 38 attacks against LA Metro employees successful LASD-patrolled areas truthful acold successful 2021, compared to 25 and 26 successful erstwhile years.

Villanueva accused the LA Metro committee of being retired of interaction with the radical it serves. He referred to buses and trains arsenic “mobile stateless shelters” and accused transit officials of “inviting the stateless colonisation onto your trains, onto your platforms,” and suggested they were contributing to crime.

The sheriff said helium encountered a pervasive odor of urine arsenic helium rode the county’s subway lines past week.

“Remember, we’re going into the Super Bowl, we’re hosting successful February,” Villanueva said. “World Cup, Olympics successful 2028. We request a world-class transit strategy that is, one, not a mobile stateless shelter.”