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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupport for LASD Staffing City of Diamond Bar 21810 Copley Drive | Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4178 (909) 839-7000 | Fax (909) 861-3117 www.DiamondBarCA.gov Chia Yu Teng Mayor District 4 Steve Tye Mayor Pro Tem District 1 Andrew Chou Council Member District 3 Stan Liu Council Member District 5 Ruth M. Low Council Member District 2 March 20, 2025 Chair Kathryn Barger Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors 500 West Temple Street, #383 Los Angeles, CA. 90012 RE: LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS Dear Chair Barger: Public safety continues to be an important issue and top priority in the City of Diamond Bar. As one of the 44 cities that contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services, we are concerned that the Sheriff’s Department no longer has sufficient staffing to properly secure our neighborhoods. At the LA County Board of Supervisors hearing on February 21, Sheriff Luna indicated that the Department has more than 1,400 vacant deputy positions. He said deputies “are doing 100% of the work, with only 76% of the personnel.” We know that the leadership at our local Sheriff’s station is doing an incredible job with the number of deputies they have available under very challenging conditions. However, we have seen the physical and mental fatigue our deputy sheriffs are experiencing due to excessive overtime demands. We fear the next greater crisis will be the loss of deputy personnel to other agencies that offer a better-balanced workload, where overtime is not a constant mandate but a choice. As you know, our County will soon be in the global spotlight, hosting the Olympics and World Cup. We don’t want to send a message to the world that our communities are not safe due to insufficient staffing levels. These events should be an opportunity to highlight our cities and county’s strengths, placing them as premier tourist destinations. With the conditions as they are, we are not confident that our community has the number of deputy sheriffs available to keep us and our visitors safe. Honorable Kathryn Barger Letter of Support, LASD Recruitment and Retention Efforts March 20, 2025 Page 2 We urge you to match the sentiments of our Sheriff and call this what it is, a staffing crisis at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Please take immediate steps that will reduce the number of vacancies and support retention efforts for deputy sheriff positions. Our community leaders are depending on you to act immediately on this issue and report your progress so that we can assure our residents and businesses that the Sheriff’s Department’s staffing crisis is on its way to resolution. We thank you in advance for your leadership and commitment to addressing this critical issue. Should you have any questions regarding our support, please feel free to contact me at CTeng@diamondbarca.gov . Sincerely, Chia Yu Teng Mayor cc: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Sheriff Robert Luna City Council