Villlanueva calls vaccine mandate on LA County employees an ‘imminent threat to public safety’

Sheriff Alex Villanueva is once again sounding the alarm on Los Angeles County’s vaccine mandate, saying that it has caused a “mass exodus” within his department resulting in an “imminent threat to public safety.”

“As homicides continued to rise, the Board of Supervisors voted to require all Los Angeles County employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or face discipline, up to and including termination,” Villanueva wrote in a statement Thursday.

The mandate was issued by executive order in August and allows only for religious and medical exemptions.

“I have repeatedly stated the dangers to public safety when 20%-30% of my workforce is no longer available to provide service, and those dangers are quickly becoming a reality,” wrote Villanueva.

The sheriff explained that his department is dealing with an increase in unscheduled retirements, worker compensation claims, employees quitting and a reduction in qualified applicants.

“As a result, homicide rates will continue to rise, response times will increase, solve rates will diminish, arrests will decline, patrol services will significantly decline, and patrol stations will close,” he said.

According to Villanueva, those in his department who are close to retirement find it easier to simply retire, “than be forced into a decision which should be a personal choice.” He also said that many of his employees have decided to “finally get those surgeries they have been putting off for injuries sustained throughout their careers (knees, shoulders, back, etc.).”

The sheriff added that while personally, he is vaccinated and believes the vaccine works, “the choice to receive the vaccine is a personal one, and an individual who served the community tirelessly before there was a vaccine should not now be fired because they made a decision about their own body.”

“My personnel already wear masks and would submit to routine COVID-19 testing, so termination makes no sense,” he said.

“This unintended consequence to public safety was predictable,” said Villanueva. “In the near future, unless something changes, the ‘defunded’ and ‘de-staffed’ sheriff’s department will no longer be able to sustain the staffing levels required to maintain public safety at the status quo.”

Earlier this month, Villanueva said that he would not enforce the county’s vaccine mandate in his agency.

In response to Villanueva’s statement, LAX Airport Police Chief Cecil Rhambo, who is running against Villanueva in the 2022 election for county sheriff, expressed that that he lost his dad to COVID-19 and that the matter is very personal to him.

“The best way to prevent COVID deaths, protect lives, and keep our first responders and the people we serve as healthy as possible is to get vaccinated. And if the number one job of the LASD is to save lives and keep people safe, then deputies tasked with saving lives should be encouraged to follow the mandate by their leader, not to defy a safety protocol,” he said.

Rhambo went as far as to slam Villanueva, saying that his statement is “yet another example of Villanueva’s failed leadership and why change is growing more urgent at the department.”

More than 26,500 people have died of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, which is the nation’s most populous county.

Of the county’s roughly 10 million residents, 80% of eligible residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 72% are fully vaccinated, according to public health officials.