Amid a lawsuit from the family of Ryan Clinkunbroomer, who say excessive overtime contributed to the slain deputy’s death, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna admitted Tuesday that short-staffing is an issue for the department.
With more than 9,000 sworn deputies, the LASD is the largest sheriff’s department in the world, and one of the largest police agencies in the country. But Luna says they need more hands on deck.
“We are short approximately 1,200 sworn deputies, and we have been working very hard behind the scenes to figure out a way to reduce overtime because that's how we're filling in the gaps,” he said.
Law enforcement agencies throughout Southern California have seen their ranks dwindle in the past few years, with some departments blaming the nationwide reckoning with police violence and racial injustice in 2020 for the wave of resignations and difficulty attracting recruits.
Luna also told KNX News he’s had to fire several employees because of their involvement in violent deputy gangs.
Attorney Brad Gage, who represents the Clinkunbroomer family, said Luna’s statement validates his claim that understaffing is a problem for the LASD.
“I applaud Sheriff Luna for recognizing what we said just before he made his announcement, and that is that this mandatory overtime is a danger to deputies,” he told KNX News’ Emily Valdez. “It results in death and injuries to them and to others.”
Luna said he’s working to hire about 1000 new deputies.
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