Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva discussed several issues during a Santa Clarita town hall Thursday ahead of the sheriff election in November.

Villanueva was joined by Captain Justin Diez and other deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station at a town hall in the West Ranch High School auditorium Thursday evening to answer questions from locals.

“I’m doing something that most elected politicians would rather eat their own liver than do, which is take questions live and unscripted,” Villanueva said.

Several local representatives were at the town hall.

A representative for Supervisor Kathryn Barger attended the event to support Villanueva in her place.

From the Santa Clarita City Council, Mayor Laurene Weste and Councilmembers Marsha McClean and Bill Miranda were in attendance.

Joe Messina, Bob Jensen and Cherise Moore with the William S. Hart Union High School District Governing Board sat in on the gathering as well.

Homelessness In Los Angeles

During the town hall, Villanueva voiced his disapproval of the “housing first” approach to the homelessness crisis, backed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Instead of building more permanent housing, Villanueva emphasized increasing shelter capacity and creating campsites for unhoused people to legally park their vehicles or set up their tents.

“Yes, you do not have the right to park your butt on our sidewalk, defecate and then flip us off and say we have nothing, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Villanueva said.

The sheriff was asked about his thoughts on Rick Caruso’s endorsement of jailing unhoused people in Los Angeles County.

Villanueva said he had no intention of jailing unhoused residents of Los Angeles County.

“We’ve had a long conversation about homelessness and he has a very good point,” Villanueva said. “…All we’re doing is creating a magnet for the rest of the nation’s homeless to descend here. Great food, free food, live under the stars, great weather and smoke all the dope you want and do whatever you want.”

Villanueva said it is important to imprison unhoused people who are disruptive.

“What they’re doing is harmful to them and they’re going to die, and they do die,” Villanueva said.

School Safety Concerns

At the town hall, Villanueva addressed concerns regarding safety during school shootings.

The elected official referred to the Saugus High School shooting that occurred in 2019, where he said the first three cops to intervene had just dropped off their kids at the school when they heard gunshots.

“No one’s going to ask for permission,” Villanueva said. “If it’s something obvious, I expect them to intervene immediately to neutralize the threat… it’s going to be messy, it’s going to be difficult, but the person doing the damage… they will know we’re coming.”

Villanueva added that because shooters at middle and high schools can be students themselves, it is especially important to have school resource officers stationed at schools.

He said a focus on mental health is also a preventative measure.

“We want to be aware of kids being bullied, kids being ostracized, shamed on social media…” Villanueva said. “We have to be able to intervene before they seem to become tragedies and not allow the presence of bullies on campus.”

Additionally, Villanueva pointed out that active shooter training sessions are periodically held within the department to help deputies prepare for those situations.

“If you hear bullets flying, run,” Villanueva said. “If you can’t run, hide, barricade yourself. Option three — you’ve gotta fight.”

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