Sheriff Alex Villanueva said this week he would not require police and other department employees to submit to Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The sheriff’s department is one of the largest police agencies in the country, with roughly 19,000 employees. Although an estimated 60% of the force is vaccinated, he believes up to 10% of his staff would quit over the requirement. Villanueva said losing that many employees at once would be catastrophic.
“The issue has become so politicized that there are entire groups that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get vaccinated,” Villanueva said Wednesday on Facebook Live.
L.A. County employees needed to get the vaccine by Oct. 1.
“I’m gonna encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” he said, justifying that vaccinated people are more likely to survive the illness if infected.
“I’ve been vaccinated myself since January, my entire family is vaccinated,” Villanueva added, pointing out that he is not opposed to the protective inoculation.
The decision to not enforce the policy stems from balancing “bare bones budget,” the sheriff claimed, who said he truly couldn’t afford to lose anyone else. LA County recommended spending 25%, or $9.2 billion, of its more than $36 billion budget this year on public protection.
“I don’t wanna be in a position to lose five to 10% of my workforce overnight on a vaccine mandate,” Villanueva said. “So this is like the worst of two worlds right here … We have to pick and choose.”
Public health data shows that roughly 70% of L.A. County residents are fully vaccinated, or 6.1 million people. About 1.4 million Angelenos have contracted COVID-19 so far, and more than 26,000 have died.
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