Statement From Patrisse Cullors on Historic Defeat of Los Angeles County Sheriff McDonnell By Alex Villanueva
“Since 2016 the progressive movement has been strategizing on how to build power and gain power. We lost the presidential race to a racist, sexist bigot and we’ve been experiencing the repercussions ever since.
In Los Angeles, we’ve dealt with our own set of racists elected officials. Sheriff Mcdonnell spent 4 years in office collaborating with ICE, knocking down reform initiatives like ending money bail and prop 47, and he refused to meet with community groups.
As of last night, Sheriff McDonnell is no longer the Sheriff of LA County.
While I morally disagree with the role of a Sheriff, I believe that Mcdonnell no longer being in office is a huge victory for Los Angeles and a huge victory for reform efforts here in Los Angeles. We know Alex Villanueva made significant promises to community groups and we plan to hold him accountable. We need to stop the 3.5 billion dollar jail plan, we need our civilian oversight body to oversee the Sheriff’s department and be a body that has legal powers, and we need to make sure Alex will not collaborate with ICE. Sheriff Villanueva, we will hold you to your promises.”
– Patrisse Cullors, Founder and Board President of Dignity and Power and Chair of Reform L.A. Jails PAC
Reform L.A. Jails and Dignity and Power Now (DPN) are pleased to release our 2018 L.A. County Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire.
Reform L.A. Jails and DPN collaborated to create this L.A. County Sheriff candidate questionnaire in order to learn more about how the candidates would address issues important to the criminal justice reform community in Los Angeles. The questionnaire was sent out to all sheriff candidates. Only one candidate responded–Alex Villanueva.
We want a response from all candidates – take action to help us make this happen!
Tweet Sheriff Jim McDonnell to encourage him to complete the questionnaire:
.@JimMcDonnell_LA@LACoSheriff – @Alex4Sheriff completed the #ReformLAJails Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire for 4.3 mil voters concerned about public safety and criminal justice reform. Will you? http://reformlajails.com/candidate/
Tweet Alex Villanueva to thank him for completing the questionnaire:
.@Alex4Sheriff thank you for completing the #ReformLAJails Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire on #criminaljusticereform and public safety issues!
About the L.A. County Sheriff
The Sheriff holds a tremendous amount of power with responsibilities in L.A. County including providing patrol services for 153 incorporated communities and 42 cities, courthouse security for the Superior Court of L.A. and housing and transportation for 17,000 people who are incarcerated in the L.A. County jail system—which is the largest in the country.
Currently, there NO TERM LIMITS for the office of Sheriff in L.A. County.
We have two candidates who are vying to become the next Sheriff—incumbent Jim McDonnell and challenger Alex Villanueva.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 6th.
Alex Villanueva’s responses to the Reform L.A. Jails Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire:
Have you ever held political office before or have you ever ran for office before? If so, describe the office or campaign. I ran for La Habra Heights City Council, I am a current member of the La Habra Heights Planning Commission.
Do you support building two jails in L.A. County? Why or why not? No.
Do you support subpoena power for the Civilian Oversight Commission? Why or why not?
No.
If elected, how will you improve the relationship between the community and the Sheriff’s Department?
My first day as Sheriff I will hold a press conference with community leaders and stakeholders to address the issues facing the residents of Los Angeles County. I will focus on community-based policing, transparency, and creating a department the promotes and rebuilds trust with the community.
The Los Angeles County jail system is in effect the nation’s largest mental hospital. As Sheriff, what are your plans for dealing with the mentally ill that trickle in and out of the jail system?
As Sheriff, I plan to work very hard to identify those who are in need of mental and medical services. I will create a strong relationship with the Civilian Oversight Commission. I will have better coordination of the Homeless Response Teams (HRT) and work with homeless outreach coordinators to address the concerns and needs of both the residents of Los Angeles County and the growing homeless population.
Gov. Jerry Brown on signed Senate Bill 10 eliminating cash bail in California. The change, which will take effect in October 2019, goes further than any other state in the country to remove money from pretrial detention. Under Senate Bill 10, California will replace bail with “risk assessments” of individuals and non-monetary conditions of release. Counties will establish local agencies to evaluate any individual arrested on felony charges for their likelihood of returning for court hearings and their chances of re-arrest. Do you support this new change in the bail system? Why or why not?
I am in support. I do not believe the person’s personal wealth should determine whether or not they are allowed to be free pending trial. This is an imbalance of a system that allows the rich to return to their lives, while a poor defendant who is unable to pay remains incarcerated.
Do you support the Reform L.A. Jails ballot measure? Why or why not?
I support the 2nd part of the ballot measure but I don’t support giving subpoena power to the Civilian Oversight committee. They are a stakeholders committee, not an investigation committee.
The names of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who’ve lied, stolen, used excessive force or falsified reports cannot be handed over to prosecutors, even in pending criminal cases, a California appeals court ruled. Do you agree with this ruling? Why or why not?
The Brady List is an important document to help make sure our court system is not tainted with corrupt testimony that can put innocent people in jail or even let guilty people walk. However, Brady List in the Sheriff’s department is built on faulty information and years of corruption from the Tanaka Era who use the Internal Affairs department to punish deputies who questioned or raised attention to their actions. I should know, I have been in the crosshairs of the internal affairs early on in my career just days after calling out the glass ceiling put on people of color in the department for senior positions. Two falsified complaints were filed against me that internal affairs used to put me in a 5 day and 10-day suspension and stop any opportunities for me to be promoted. I spent my own money to take this to court just to clear my name and I succeeded. I am, as determined by the court of law, proof that internal affairs is part of the corruption. Despite spending my own money to clear my name, there are countless deputies who are honorable peace officers but do not have the resources to clear their own name.
In the context of being Sheriff, what is your definition of transparency and accountability? Explain how you will be transparent with and accountable to the community you’ll be serving?
As the Department implements new policies aimed at providing better service to the residents of Los Angeles County. One of my main priorities is to hold ourselves as a department accountable to the public and be transparent in our plans to Reform, Rebuild and Restore the trust that has been broken through abuse of power by the current administration. I plan to hold my deputies to the highest standards of service a peace officer should be held to. I will continuously evaluate my processes to ensure a high level of integrity and consistency.
Watch the video below. As a Sheriff, do you think that this situation was handled correctly? Would you have done anything different and if so, what?
I would not assassinate the character of a person who was on the receiving end of a deputy-involved shooting. All investigations matters will be confidential until the investigation is complete then all relevant information will be release include video of the incident if it exists. If 3rd party video is released we will take that into consideration for the investigation.
What community-based criminal justice reform organizations in L.A. County have supported or endorsed your candidacy?
N/A
Learn more about Alex Villanueva by clicking here.
Tweet Sheriff Jim McDonnell to encourage him to complete the questionnaire:
.@JimMcDonnell_LA@LACoSheriff – @Alex4Sheriff completed the #ReformLAJails Sheriff Candidate Questionnaire for 4.3 mil voters concerned about public safety and criminal justice reform. Will you? http://reformlajails.com/candidate/
About Reform L.A. Jails
Reform L.A. Jails is a political action committee formed to support a 2020 county-wide ballot initiative to grant the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Civilian Oversight Commission with subpoena power to effectively and independently investigate misconduct and to develop a plan to reduce jail populations and to redirect the cost savings into alternatives to incarceration. Reform L.A. Jails represents a coalition of citizens, community leaders, businesses, and organizations that recognize we need a more effective strategy to reduce recidivism, prevent crime, and permanently reduce the population of people cycling in and out of jail that are experiencing mental health, drug dependency, or chronic homelessness issues.
About Dignity and Power Now
Dignity and Power Now (DPN) is a Los Angeles based grassroots organization founded in 2012 that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. DPN’s mission is to build a Black and Brown led abolitionist movement rooted in community power towards the goal of achieving transformative justice and healing justice for all incarcerated people, their families, and communities.
My brother, who is four years older, was arrested after taking our mother’s car joy-riding. He was incarcerated in an LA County jail, where he was almost killed by the sheriffs. They beat him. They tortured him. They brutalized him. The abuse of my brother became my awakening. I was compelled to take action. I sought out mentors, established a network, and over a period of 11 years I learned the craft of community organizing.
At our onset we were the only group in the community advocating for civilian oversight. We gave testimony, rallied the people and secured two county supervisors votes. It quickly became clear that the Coalition was not enough. The issues extended beyond the conditions in the jails. We needed more resources to confront the increasing problem of violence against the Black community as a whole.
Expanding the organizational, psychological, and motivational capacity to end state violence meant developing five other projects that used art, research, resilience practices, and leadership development as center pieces in the work. Dignity and Power Now was created to be the primary organization for a multifaceted, trauma informed, healing, motivated movement to end state violence and mass incarceration.
Where are we now? We have achieved quite a bit, but more is needed. We continue to work to affect change. Dignity and Power Now demands a civilian oversight commission with power, mental health diversion, and a halt to the $3.5 billion jail plan. Black, Brown, and poor communities need a Los Angeles that will fight for our health and well-being instead of our incarceration.
I am proud of the work I have been able to lead in Los Angeles. I am even prouder of the team that has grown out of fighting for greater accountability for the sheriff’s department. Dignity and Power Now currently has a core leadership team made up of staff and volunteer members who have worked diligently to tell their stories and fight for the people they love. This team has been resilient against all odds. I have been honored to work with this team for the last 3 years and I am confident that they are the leaders Los Angeles County needs. As for me, I am transitioning from Executive Director of Dignity and Power Now and will be developing and revamping our Board.
As American democracy is continuously compromised by law enforcement with very few checks and balances, I feel compelled to support a national movement that is focused on pushing for local government to reinvest in the dignity of communities of color, black communities in particular. No movement is ahistorical. No movement is without strategy. When folks in Ferguson made the choice to demand accountability, and when local law enforcement’s response was to tear gas and rubber bullet a community that was grieving, I understood that there needed to be an intervention in the discussion around state violence.
Mostly, state violence and mass incarceration are seen as two separate issues. I argue that they are two sides of the same coin. The police arrest people who end up in jail or prison. The amount of funding that has been poured into law enforcement, jails, and prisons far exceeds the lack of investment made into black and poor communities. We can’t compartmentalize one apparatus from the other. They interact with one another. They support one another. We can’t have jails without police and police without jails. In the last nine months one thing has become clear. We need a national network that will help support victims and survivors of state violence. This network will build the capacity and support the leadership of victims and survivors. This will change the culture of America’s relationship to law enforcement and jails/prisons.
My new venture: Truth and Reinvestment Director at Ella Baker Center for Human Rights! In my position I will work to build the capacity of communities who are affected by state and law enforcement violence. We will support them in responding quickly and in a coordinated way through the creation of an online and on the ground support network. We will provide toolkits and a registry of local and national resources through the ACLU of Southern California’s mobile app. We will develop a web based platform for communities to better utilize tech tools for our agency and to change policy. I am excited about this powerful work and ready to push for greater accountability and transparency for law enforcement across the country. Follow my journey on twitter @osope and on Instagram @love_cullors.
When The Coalition to End Sheriff Violence in LA Jails first started two and a half years ago we had a vision that the Black and Brown people who bear the brunt of sheriff violence would have the power to end human rights abuses in the largest jail system in the world.
