"When you're District Attorney and your first day in office you come down like Moses in the mountains with the tablets and say ‘this is my special orders, everyone shall follow’ that is not a collaborative model," Villanueva said, adding that Gascón's policies, specifically refusing to prosecute certain cases, is threatening the public safety. Villanueva criticized Gascón's approach to the job from the start, saying that he's all for working with the District Attorney, but he wants the relationship to be collaborative. Sheriff Alex Villanueva's relationship with District Attorney Gascón, with Villanueva backing the effort to recall the District Attorney earlier this year. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: LA Sheriff Villanueva, Chief Luna debate top issues ahead of November election Working with the District Attorney "There are ways that we can improve it," Villanueva said, but said a lack of deputies makes that difficult. Villanueva pointed to the ways the department under him is already utilizing unarmed personnel, saying that mental evaluation teams deputies and licensed clinicians "do an incredible job" de-escalating situations. "Policing in the 21st Century means you're being more strategic and just smarter in the way we approach problems," Luna said The candidates were asked about potentially using unarmed units to respond to certain calls, and both seemed to support new approaches to policing. Villanueva said that, "we need to work together, but we need a District Attorney who does his job." Policing Reform While neither candidate addressed how they'd accomplish that, Luna said that Villanueva consistently "blames" the Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón for rising crime without taking responsibility. How will Robert Luna and Alex Villanueva handle public safety? Hear their answers during FOX 11's debate.īoth Villanueva and Luna said that the rise in violent crime in Los Angeles County is a top priority that needs to be solved. In response, Villanueva seemed to accuse Luna of two separate cover-ups during his time with the Long Beach Police Department in the 1990s. When asked what steps should be taken to minimize lawsuits against LASD, and subsequent payments footed by the taxpayers, Luna said that the department needs to be held accountable and policies need to be audited. Vivian Villanueva, run the department like "their own personal fiefdom and business." A lawsuit filed in August claimed Villanueva and his wife, LASD Sgt. Overall, 15 lawsuits the department has called "frivolous" have been filed during Villanueva's tenure, claiming he and the department lack accountability. When asked if he was doing enough to put a stop to deputy gangs, Villanueva he's been working to eradicate deputy gangs from his first day in office. "We have to show the public that they can trust us, and right now, they don't." When the conversation moved to reports of deputy gangs in LASD, Luna said the first step to eradicating gangs is "you have to admit that there's a problem." From there he said federal and state intervention was necessary. Retired Long Beach police chief Robert Luna said deputy gangs are "absolutely unacceptable" and called for federal and state intervention. Robert Luna: Deputy gangs are absolutely unacceptable
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