Unlawful Conduct of LASD
Unlawful Conduct of LASD
The Sheriff’s Department has gone to great lengths to keep its conduct secret. The unlawful acts and potentially unlawful acts enumerated in our reports show a pattern and practice of the repudiation of oversight by the Office of Inspector General, the Civilian Oversight Commission, the Board, and the public. If you would like to read our full report, please click the button below:
Legal Rulings That The Former Sheriff Violated Law
September 2020
Attempted to rehire a fired deputy who lied to investigators and used his membership in a deputy gang to intimidate his victim, a fellow deputy.
October 2020
Obtained an unlawful order directing the Coroner not to release an autopsy report related to a deputy-involved shooting.
November 2020
Disobeyed a subpoena to personally appear before the Civilian Oversight Commission.
Threats Against County Officials
August 2019
After the OIG reported on the attempted rehiring of a fired deputy, former Sheriff Villanueva accused the Inspector General and his staff of participating in a “data breach” of Sheriff’s Department computer data on alleged police misconduct.
April 2020
Former Sheriff Villanueva utilized a public Board meeting to threaten that he possessed undisclosed information that multiple County officials had committed felonies... never produced any proof.
April 2020
As retaliation for being removed as head of the County’s emergency operations center, former Sheriff Villanueva falsely accused the former County CEO of refusing to pay quarantined deputies during the pandemic... payments he later admitted in an internal email he had the authority to approve.
June 2020
Falsely blamed the former County CEO for staffing cuts that the Sheriff's Department actually proposed and made to critical units, which he publicly stated threatened public safety.
July 2020
Without basis, accused the former County CEO of committing a felony by being on the United Way Board of Directors while simultaneously working on a proposed ballot initiative by that organization for personal financial interest. However, the position on the Board was unpaid.