Los Angeles, CA, January 25th, 2021 –  

On Friday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra launched a civil rights probe into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, promising to investigate their long-standing record of human rights abuses, deputy gang activity and use of lethal force in both the Los Angeles County jails as well as in our streets. Dr. Lamia El Sadek, Executive Director of Dignity and Power NOW, says, “Dignity and Power NOW has long been working towards accountability for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Our organization has its genesis in accountability for this Department, a Department that has shown generations of human rights abuses. The hard work of DPN staff and organizers has created this political moment. We are buoyed by this investigation, and will continue to demand accountability.”

Dignity and Power NOW grieves the loss of so many community members who have been stolen from us by this department, including Andres Guardado, Dijon Kizzee, A.J. Weber and John Horton.  Helen Jones, Community Organizer with Dignity and Power NOW, says, “This investigation is long overdue. We know that the sheriff has been stealing the lives of our loved ones since its creation, including my son, John. We are ready for Villanueva and the whole department to be seen for what they really are.”

We encourage this investigation to be as thorough and incisive as possible. Lex Steppling, Director of Campaigns and Policy at Dignity and Power NOW, underscores this, saying, “We all wish for institutions like the Attorney General’s Office to be credible. Historically, in matters of law enforcement accountability, they have not been. In matters of state violence, they have not been. This investigation could be a step in the direction of a long overdue reckoning, or it could end up an affirmation of the bad faith communities hold institutions in. We hope for the former, of course, and will continue to press forward in the direction of community safety and justice.”

As we mourn our loved ones whose lives have been stolen by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, we look towards accountability for the Department’s human rights abuses, and a reduction in the size and scope of the Department so that their reign of terror is ended.  James Nelson, Senior Advocacy Lead with Dignity and Power NOW, says, “Knowing the impact of Sheriff violence in the jails, it’s about time that they be held accountable. We (DPN) work with and support families that have been victimized by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.  It’s clear that we need to reign the Sheriff in to keep our people safe.”

In our longstanding organizing fights to hold the Sheriff accountable, we have won oversight and divestment mandates through  Measure R, and a significant reallocation of funds out of the Department through Measure J. Ivette Ale, Senior Policy Lead with Dignity and Power NOW, says, “For too long, billions of our tax dollars have been bankrolling the violence and corruption of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, while our communities have been defunded and terrorized. This exposition of their long-standing abuses will only empower our work for real public safety by shifting dollars out of the failed Sheriff’s Department and into care and community-based services. In a moment of such extreme uncertainty and loss, it would be irresponsible to continue funding the Sheriff at the expense of housing and health care.”