Los Angeles County Sheriff insists on not enforcing vaccination orders and warns of a massive exodus of officers

(CNN) – The sheriff of Los Angeles County, Alex Villanueva, warned Tuesday of a possible threat to public safety due to a “mass exodus” of agents of the Department and blamed for this the vaccination orders.

Villanueva accused the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors of having devised poor policy and pointed to a decree issued by the Chairman of the Board, in August, which required that all county employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than October 1st.

Days after the county’s deadline, Villanueva said he would not enforce the mandate.

“I don’t want to be in a position to lose 5% or 10% of my workforce overnight to a vaccination order,” Villanueva said last month.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) employs about 16,000 people in the nation’s most populous county, of which just over half they are vaccinated against covid-19, according to the Department.

How far vaccination progressed in the Sheriff’s Department

On Tuesday, Villanueva said that only about 42% of the Department’s personnel have been vaccinated and that 3,137 officers are at risk of being fired due to the vaccination order.

And, according to sheriff, many unvaccinated officers are voluntarily leaving the Department to avoid the vaccination requirement.

“Yes [la Junta de Supervisores] I hadn’t said all this nonsense about the vaccination order, I probably would have gotten better results in vaccinating my employees over time, “Villanueva said.

According to Villanueva, the Department usually has just over 500 retirements a year, but that number has risen to just over 600 in the last 12 months.

Along with 238 other employees leaving the Department for reasons other than retirement, Villanueva said the departures are “disrupting our ability to provide public safety services to Los Angeles County.”

The numbers are wrong, says Board of Supervisors

But the Board of Supervisors said Villanueva’s numbers are incorrect and there has been no increase in attrition since the vaccination mandate was implemented.

The numbers presented by Villanueva on Tuesday compared October 2019-2020 with October 2020-2021. The COVID-19 vaccination mandate for county employees went into effect on October 1 of this year.

“The LASD attrition rate over the past year has been slightly below the overall County rate,” the Board’s Executive Office said in a statement to CNN. “There were nine LASD retirements in October, which is not considered a high number.”

Villanueva was unable to provide an exact number of employees retiring as a direct result of the vaccination order, but said the trend is being picked up from employee exit interviews.

Other possible causes of the exodus

“While it is true that there is a negative environment towards law enforcement in general, this could be the last straw,” said the sheriff, recognizing that there may be other reasons at play when it comes to losing staff.

Villanueva’s criticism of the vaccination mandate comes at a time when covid-19 has become the leading cause of death among law enforcement agencies, despite being among the first groups eligible to receive the vaccine at the end of 2020.

County Supervisor Janice Hahn said Villanueva’s vocal opposition to the mandate is putting her staff in danger.

“Instead of implementing the Los Angeles County vaccination order (as all other County Departments have successfully done), you are putting both your officers and the public they are faced with every day at unnecessary risk.” Hahn said in Twitter.

“Lead by example”

During his press conference, Villanueva said that he is vaccinated and that he prefers to “lead by example” rather than with orders.

“Rather than being an obstacle,” said County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solís, “I encourage sheriff to work with us and help provide education and outreach to those who remain unvaccinated, so that we can ensure their safety and the health of those around them, and ultimately leave this pandemic behind. “

Supervisor Kathryn Barger pledged to support and listen to the Department’s grassroots to “get to the bottom of the barriers and obstacles they face so that we can reach a resolution. Ultimately, we all share a commitment to public safety.”

With information from Sarah Moon, Anna-Maja Rappard and Kelly McCleary.