Sheriff No Longer In Control – Supervisors Assert Civilian Control Over All Emergency Responses
Written by 991KBU on March 31, 2020
[UPDATED 11AM] – The Los Angeles county Board of Supervisors today removed the sheriff as head of emergency disaster response.
The disastrous LA County response to the Woolsey Fire led to a management consultant to recommend changes.
It recommended that emergency operations workers be placed in charge of the overall county response … including sheriff … fire … road … flood and health department responses.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva sees this as a political plot.
yesterday … at a news conference … the sheriff said and we quote …
“This will impact public safety and public health,.
“They’re going to reassign the job to a financial analyst, and not a first responder with experience managing natural disasters and man-made.”
“We’re in the middle of a global public health crisis.”
And that’s exactly why the Board of Supervisors is considering the move.
Under the updated county ordinance, the sheriff would retain operational command and control over law enforcement activities.
But like every other county department … the board of supervisors would control overall emergency response.
In comments to the Los Angeles Times, Villanueva characterized the board ordinance as payback for his move to shut down gun shops during the pandemic.
The sheriff has changed his official policy four times in the past weeks on the gun store issue.
[NOTE – THE VOTE WAS AT 10:45AM – FULL COVERAGE TOMORROW.]
