Alex Villanueva

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Alex Villanueva
33rd Sheriff of Los Angeles County
Incumbent
Assumed office December 3, 2018
Preceded by	Jim McDonnell
Personal details
Born	1963 (age 57–58) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Vivian Villanueva
Children	1
Education	Excelsior College (BLS) California State University, Northridge (MPA) University of La Verne (DPA)
Signature
Police career
Country	United States
Department	Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Service years	1986–present
Rank	Sheriff (2018–present) Lieutenant (2011–2018) Sergeant (2000–2011) Deputy Sheriff (1986–2000)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Air Force California Air National Guard California Army National Guard
Years of service	10

Alejandro Villanueva^[1] is an American law enforcement officer serving as the 33rd sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. He defeated incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell in the 2018 L.A. County Sheriff's race, making him the first to unseat an incumbent in over 100 years.^[2] Before becoming Sheriff, he was a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.^[3]

Early life and education[]

Villanueva was born in Chicago in 1963 to a Puerto Rican father and Polish-American mother. His family moved to Rochester, New York at an early age.^[4] When Villanueva was nine years old, his family moved to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, where he learned Spanish and walked to school while reading books along the rural back roads beside sugar cane fields.^[5]

Villanueva earned an associate degree in liberal arts from San Bernardino Valley College in 1986 and a Bachelor of Liberal Studies from the University of the State of New York, Regents College, now known as Excelsior College. Villanueva then earned a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Northridge. and a Doctor of Public Administration from University of La Verne.^[6] Villanueva's dissertation was on the subject of leadership diversity in law enforcement.^{[citation needed]}

Career[]

Military service[]

Villanueva served in the United States military for 10 years. After graduating from high school in Puerto Rico, Villanueva served in the United States Air Force and California Air National Guard from 1983 to 1985. He was stationed at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California and March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. It was at this time that Villanueva was hired by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Villanueva remained in the military, however, for another seven years, serving in the California Army National Guard from 1985 to 1992 where he was commissioned as a lieutenant (2nd Battalion, 144th Field Artillery Regiment, 40th Infantry Division).^{[citation needed]}

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department[]

Villanueva joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1986 and eventually settled in La Habra Heights, California. After completing the Sheriff's Academy (Class 232), Villanueva was assigned to the Inmate Reception Center, the processing center for the Sheriff's Department's jail system.^[7]

In 1988, Villanueva initiated the drive to ban smoking in the Los Angeles County jail system as part of a national effort to ban second-hand smoke. The ban was successfully implemented in 1990.^[8][9]

While he was on patrol in the community of East Los Angeles, California, Villanueva volunteered to lead one of the first community policing teams in the nation made possible by the Community Oriented Policing (COPS) grant program launched by President William Jefferson Clinton. The team Villanueva led was located at the Maravilla Housing Project.

After his time at East Los Angeles Sheriff Station, Villanueva transferred to the Training Bureau where he served as a Drill Instructor at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Academy. He promoted to the rank of Sergeant, where he worked Lennox and Carson Sheriff Stations, the Community College Bureau, as well as the Advanced Officer Training unit. Villanueva promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and served at the Century Regional Detention Facility, which primarily houses female inmates. In 2014, Villanueva moved on to the Pico Rivera Sheriff Station, where he served as Watch Commander. Villanueva retired from the Sheriff's Department in 2018.

From 2006 to 2010, Villanueva was an adjunct professor of criminal justice at California State University, Long Beach.^{[citation needed]}

Run for sheriff[]

In 2014, former Sheriff Lee Baca, Undersheriff Paul Tanaka and numerous other department employees were indicted for various federal corruption charges and sentenced to prison.^[10] Former Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell was elected as the 32nd Sheriff of Los Angeles County in 2014. As he neared his retirement, Villanueva felt McDonnell had failed to make the reforms necessary to restore public trust. "Everyone expected Jim McDonnell to clean house. But he didn't do that."^[11] "It was 'management by gotcha'," he told the Los Angeles Times.^[12]

2018 primary election[]

Villanueva announced his campaign for sheriff of Los Angeles County on June 28, 2017,^[12] promising to "reform, rebuild and restore" the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department by "reforming the organization around the principles of community policing and ethical standards of conduct."^[11] He competed against incumbent Sheriff McDonnell and retired Commander Bob Lindsey. Villanueva received 33% of the vote, to McDonnell's 47%, and Lindsey's 19%. As a result, Villanueva advanced to a general election runoff against McDonnell on November 4, 2018.

2018 general election[]

On November 4, 2018, Villanueva became the first person in 104 years to unseat a sitting sheriff of Los Angeles County. Villanueva was also the first Democratic candidate to win the sheriff's seat in 138 years.^[13]

Sheriff of Los Angeles County[]

Villanueva was sworn into office as sheriff on December 3, 2018.

Hiring[]

Villanueva inherited a department that was understaffed by at least 1,300 personnel.^[14][15] According to an op-ed Villanueva wrote, he hired 1,100 deputies in his first year and banned the recruitment and hiring of out of state applicants for deputy sheriff, believing deputies should reflect the communities they will serve.^[16]

Reforms and controversy[]

Accountability and transparency[]

Numerous bodies in Los Angeles County and California have clashed with Villanueva over the accountability of the sheriff's office. Following numerous occasions during which the sheriff refused to appear before them, the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission called on Villanueva to resign in October 2020.^[17] In January 2021, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra launched a civil rights investigation of the LA Sheriff's Department which sought to determine whether LASD has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing, following allegations of excessive force, retaliation, and other misconduct.^[18]

Body cameras[]

In September 2020, Villanueva secured $35 million in funding from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to implement a body-worn camera program across the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.^[19] Though the LASD was one of the first law enforcement agencies in the nation to test body-worn camera technology, prior sheriffs had failed to implement such a system.^[20]

Deputy gangs[]

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has a long history with deputy gangs, some of which have been accused of violence.^[21] One of the most prominent such groups is the "Banditos" at East Los Angeles Sheriff Station.^[22][23] On his first day in office, Villanueva removed the captain of East Los Angeles Sheriff Station and transferred 36 deputies away from the station. Ultimately, 22 deputies were suspended for misconduct and four were terminated.^[22]

Removing immigration agents from LA County jails[]

In his first week in office, Villanueva followed through on another campaign promise^[24] to direct the removal of federal immigration agents from Los Angeles County jails, court facilities, and patrol stations.^[25]

During his 2018 campaign, Villanueva promised to end the "pipeline to deportation" built upon the sheriff's department's cooperation and financial ties with federal immigration authorities. In August 2018, Villanueva instituted a permanent moratorium^[26] on transferring undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.^[27]

From 2005 to 2018, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Board of Supervisors accepted $122,189,627 from the United States Government in exchange for a database of inmates without proof of valid immigration status. Villanueva suspended the department's participation in this program immediately after taking office, describing the cash payments as "blood money".^[28][29]

Death of Kobe Bryant[]

In January 2020, former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Within several weeks, the department learned that a deputy at the scene had shared a photo of the accident scene with an unauthorized person at a local bar.^[30] Department policy at the time did not prohibit such an act. Villanueva created a new policy to ban such behavior and sponsored Senate Bill 2655^[31] to ban and criminalize the unauthorized taking or distribution of photos at accident scenes by first responders.^[32][6][33]

Published works[]

Dissertation: Leadership Diversity in Law Enforcement (2005)

Academic works[]

In Pursuit of Equity and Excellence in Law Enforcement Leadership ("Leadership in Education Corrections and Law Enforcement: A Commitment to Excellence, A. Normore & B. Fitch eds., Emerald Group Publishing, 2011)

Police Exams and Cheating: The Ultimate Test of Ethics ("Law Enforcement Ethics: Classic and Contemporary Issues", B. Fitch ed., Sage Publications, 2014)

Anatomy of an Organizational Train Wreck: A Failed Leadership Paradigm ("The Dark Side of Leadership: Identifying and Overcoming Unethical Practices in Organizations", A. Normore & Jeffrey Brooks eds., Emerald Group Publishing, 2017)

Personal life[]

Villanueva's wife is Vivian Villanueva. She retired from the Sheriff's Department in 2016 after 24 years of service.^[34]

References[]

External links[]

• alexvillanueva.org – official campaign website
• Alexander Villanueva at ballotpedia.org