LOS ANGELES, CA – The Los Angeles jails have been emptied due to COVID-19 concerns, leading to homelessness and a rise in violent crime according to Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Now, the sheriff who said he won’t force his officers to vaccinate is fighting against city leaders for their “wokeism”.
In Los Angeles County we have a Board of Supervisors who repeatedly call to empty the jails and release felons back onto the streets; a District Attorney who refuses to prosecute many misdemeanors and has effectively de-criminalized a myriad of crimes through his special directives; a homeless problem in excess of 80K which continues to grow without solutions; a 54% increase in homicides; and all this occurred as LASD was defunded and stripped of 1,400 positions. These reckless actions in the name of “woke-ism” have real-world consequences and public safety continues to suffer as a result. Continuing to defund LASD when there is a $2 billion surplus forces us to make tough choices regarding the allocation of resources. When a decision must be made between responding to a violent felony in progress or serving as the “vaccine mandate police,” the choice is simple. The Department will continue requiring all of our employees to register with the Fulgent system but will only seek voluntary compliance and testing for the unvaccinated.