Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva issued an “imminent threat to public safety” notice on Thursday. In it, the sheriff warned that a mandate by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors ordering that all county workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 was causing a “mass exodus” of department employees.
“We are experiencing an increase in unscheduled retirements, worker compensation claims, employees quitting, and a reduction in qualified applicants,” Villanueva said in a statement.
He warned that unplanned reductions in deputy workforce could have major impact on the department’s ability to maintain public safety. A “large portion” of the department’s employees close to retirement age have found it “easier to simply retire” than get vaccinated against COVID-19, Villanueva claimed.
“As a result, homicide rates will continue to rise, response times will increase, solve rates will diminish, arrests will decline, patrol services will significantly decline, and patrol stations will close,” he said.
When asked how many deputies had left the department through recent unscheduled retirements, or quit out of opposition to the vaccine mandate, a LASD spokesperson told KNX 1070 the numbers were not immediately available.
L.A. County's Chief Executive Office responded to the sheriff's notice by stating it was "encouraged that more than 90% of the county's employees" have been vaccinated against COVID-10, including 79% of the sheriff's department.
"The county expects all department heads to encourage their employees to register as [vaccinated as] an important public health measure to protect workers and the public we serve," a spokesperson for the Chief Executive Office said in a statement to KNX 1070. "The vaccination policy is intended to save lives, not to punish employees based on their vaccination status. Employees are permitted to seek an accommodation on medical or religious grounds, and the policy provides ample time for this process."
“Personally, I am vaccinated and believe the vaccine works, but the choice to receive the vaccine is a personal one,” Villanueva said. “An individual who served the community tirelessly before there was a vaccine should not now be fired because they made a decision about their own body.”
Villanueva’s imminent threat notice encourages readers to voice their concerns with the countywide vaccine mandate by contacting the offices of county supervisors. Their photos, phone numbers, and email addresses are listed at the bottom of the statement.
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