Media Contact

ACLU SoCal Communications & Media Advocacy, communications@aclusocal.org626-755-4129.

January 22, 2021

LOS ANGELES — Today, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the state was launching a civil rights investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, among other groups, urged in a letter in October that an investigation take place, saying that the department, under current Sheriff Alex Villanueva, had sought to undermine “basic accountability and civilian oversight at every turn and systematically violating state transparency laws.”

Please attribute the following statement made today by Andrés Kwon, policy counsel at the ACLU SoCal:

“We applaud the attorney general for answering the call by grassroots groups and the families of those killed by sheriff’s deputies to launch an investigation into the pattern of unconstitutional policing by Sheriff Villanueva and the LASD. The investigation should address past and ongoing misconduct, but more remains to be done. The L.A. Board of Supervisors must act to strengthen accountability and transparency of LASD for the future, including by seeking to amend the county charter to give the board the power to impeach and remove sheriffs who violate public trust, obstruct oversight and sanction unconstitutional policing.”

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