LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva slammed County supervisors during a press conference on Wednesday for continuing a hiring freeze on the department amid a deputy shortage. “This is not sustainable at any level,” Villanueva said at the Hall of Justice on March 9. “People literally are going to die on the streets for lack of us being able to intervene to stop crime or to solve crime.” The county placed a hiring freeze on several departments during the height of the pandemic in March 2020 to cut back on expenditures. Last October, the supervisors lifted the freeze on every department except for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and staffing positions related to youthful offenders in the Probation Department. As officials grapple with reimagining public safety and shifting resources to community leaders instead of law enforcement, Villanueva warned that this shift in Los Angeles led to a 94 percent …
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