Another Upheaval In The LA Sheriff’s Dept: Undersheriff Abruptly Fired, Replaced By ‘Truth Squad’ Member
Written by 991KBU on March 19, 2019
There is more serious upheaval in the trouble plagued Los Angeles County sheriffs department.
The undersheriff has been abruptly fired.
New sheriff … Alex Villanueva … fired his number two in the department after after just a few months in office.
Ray Leyva was a longtime Los Angeles County sheriff’s official … who came back
from a medical leave to serve as Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s second-in-command.
The Los Angeles times reports that Leyva was seen as a steadying hand in a fledgling administration that has already grappled with controversies .
But three months into Villanueva’s new term … he fired Leyva.
Assistant Sheriff Tim Murakami will replace Leyva immediately as undersheriff.
The LA Times notes that Murakami was one of three senior Sheriff’s Department executives Villanueva appointed to the secret socalled Truth An Reconciliation Commission …
That group is examining the discipline handed out to 400 alleged bad deputies by the former sheriff ….
It has already rehired one deputy who had been found to have committed domestic abuse and stalking by the county personnel appeals board.
Villanueva has fired 18 top bosses at the sheriffs department as he took office.
And he demanded that hundreds of other senior department managers reapply for their positions.
Villanueva has sacked the command staff at the malibu Lost Hills station … with no explanation.
As a contract city … Malibu hires the sheriffs office as our police … and Villanueva serves as the police chief for Malibu.
City officials have said that Villanueva will not meet with them to discuss police matters in Malibu.
And Villanueva has ignored questions from KBUU Radio … about why he removed the Malibu sheriffs captain and liaison lieutenant.
He has also refused to answer questions about how the sheriffs office handled the Malibu Canyon shootings probe … and the controversial fire evacuations.
L A Times story: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-undersheriff-20190318-story.html .
