Villanueva Will Disobey Subpeona, Accuses Oversight Board Of ‘Public Shaming’
Written by 991KBU on May 21, 2020
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he will defy a subpoena issued by the LA County civilian oversight board.
The sheriff says that the subpoena is not lawful … and at a news conference yesterday the sheriff chafed at the civilian oversight that was imposed on him by 71 percent of the county’s voters just last March.
The issue is a commission that was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to investigate abuse by sheriffs deputies … shooting policies … and most recently how the sheriff has reacted to the coven virus in the Los Angeles County Jail system.
By a 71 percent margin … voters approved the subpeona power.
At yesterday’s news conference …. Villanueva rejects that landslide.
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“The subpoena … Measure R … the ordinance enacted by the Board of Supervisors … all these things were generated without any oversight… without any independent third-party legal analysis of its constitutionality.”
Because Malibu is one of the nearly 50 cities that hires the sheriffs office to be the local city Police Department … Villanueva is in effect Malibu’s police chief.
The Civilian Oversight Commission was formed in 2016 … after corruption and brutality in the jails.
All nine members are appointed by the county Board of Supervisors, with five nominated by supervisors and the other four recommended by community groups.
Villanueva has vowed to undo much of the reforms at the jail and rehired many of the deputies who were fired by his predecessor.
He was elected with heavy support by the LA county sheriffs deputy union.
The L A Times notes that Villanueva has been at war with the supervisors almost from the day he took office.
And that’s the background yesterday … as Malibu’s sheriff said he would provide information … but defy the subpoena.
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“If the transparency is being provided, the information is being provided, what examples what exactly is the purpose of the subpoena???
“if they are engaging in a public shaming endeavor, which it looks like it face value, well they’re sadly mistaken we are not going to be participating in that.”
LA County sheriff … and Malibu’s police chief … Alex Villanueva… explaining that he will not honor a subpoena issued by the civilian review board.
Again … 71 percent of the voters in Los Angeles County voted in favor of giving that subpoena power to the civilian oversight board.
