Screenshot of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva at a press conference in August 2020.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) Claims of excessive force, retaliation, and other misconduct by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will be probed during a civil rights investigation, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Friday.
Becerra called the inquiry into the nation’s largest sheriff’s department an investigation into the “pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing.”
“There are serious concerns and reports that accountability and adherence to legitimate policing practices have lapsed at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” Becerra said during a media briefing. “We are undertaking this investigation to determine if LASD has violated the law or the rights of the people of Los Angeles County.”
Villanueva said in a series of tweets that the girl was found to be “severely physically abused, including bruising around her neck indicative of rope marks, a golf-sized bruise to her left cheek, and healed burn marks on her right leg.”
Moreno is due in court Jan. 15, 2021.
1/3 Recently, #LASD Special Victims Bureau investigated a case involving a 2-year-old who was beaten by her mother on Catalina Island. The child was severely physically abused, including bruising around her neck indicative of rope marks, a golf-sized bruise to her left cheek, & Alex Villanueva (@LACoSheriff) January 6, 2021 Hours before protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump addressed a crowd and encouraged the group to “walk down” to the building to “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
The Sheriff also discussed the department’s first round of COVID-19 vaccinations, with 135 currently vaccinated.
The vaccine is voluntary for LASD personnel, according to Villanueva, with 70-80% of the department willing to take the shot.
Overall Crime Down, Homicides Up
Overall from 2019 to 2020, the LASD has reported a 6% drop in calls for service in the department’s 23 patrol stations, including the Santa Clarita Valley.
Villanueva also reported a decline in arrests as well, with felony arrests dropping about 6% with misdemeanor arrests dropping nearly four times that amount at 23%.
The Sheriff said the pandemic “altered the opportunities of crime” with a drop in robberies and other theft crimes, due to closed businesses and more people at home.
By City News Service
Dec 31, 2020
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - More than 200 people were arrested during a monthlong crackdown on “underground parties held in violation of COVID-19 health protocols, sheriff officials said today.
The parties took place throughout the county, in areas such as Palmdale, downtown Los Angeles and Compton. In total, the Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department made 235 arrests and recovered seven illegal firearms, according to the agency.
Deputies began targeting the events earlier this month amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
The monthlong operation included an earlier announced raid on a Dec. 5 house party at a rental home in the 6300 block of West Avenue M8 in Palmdale, where deputies arrested 158 people and seized six firearms. A 17-year-old human trafficking victim was also rescued during the event, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said earlier.
The first gathering that weekend took place in the 400 block of South Hewitt Street, near Alameda Street, in downtown Los Angeles, where, just before law enforcement officers arrived, a shooting occurred and a 25-year-old man was killed, sheriff s officials said.
A 25-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man were struck by bullets and hospitalized, according to Los Angeles Police Department, which investigated the shooting.
Deputies responded to a second party about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 20 at 1916 E. Rosecrans Ave., near North Willowbrook Avenue, in Compton where announcements were made and the location was secured, Deputy Joana Warren of the sheriff s department said.