The Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva denied a subpoena order to testify in regards to the coronavirus amongst the inmates in the County jail system during a virtual meeting Thursday, officials said.
During the May 7 Civilian Oversight Panel meeting, a unanimous vote approved the issuance of a subpoena, ordering Sheriff Villanueva to attend the virtual meeting of the oversight body on Thursday, May 21, to testify on the coronavirus in the jail system, according to officials.
The subpoena was made during the third meeting the sheriff failed to attend or send personnel.
Back in March, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors granted the Civilian Oversight Commission the authority to subpoena Sheriff personnel and documents in the furtherance of the Commission’s work, according to officials.
Also, in March of this year, Los Angeles County voters approved Measure R, which also granted subpoena power to the Oversight Commission.
“After repeated requests for the Sheriff to attend our Commission meetings, no one from the department has shown up,” said Commission Chair Patti Giggans, executive director of Peace Over Violence. “The meetings now conducted virtually twice a month due to the critical COVID-19 crisis are very well attended by the public. We are in a pandemic which calls for more oversight, more collaboration, more input into policy not less. The role of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission is a public mandate and one that every commissioner takes seriously.”
Despite being subpoenaed to Thursday’s meeting, Villanueva did not attend, however, he sent the Assistant Sheriff Bruce Chase to testify, according to officials.
Since the coronavirus Pandemic began, Villanueva has released multiple inmates from the County jail system in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in the jails.
However, 662 inmates have tested positive and nearly 190 sheriff’s department employees have also tested positive as of Thursday.
In Santa Clarita alone, 30 percent of the local population with the coronavirus has been identified to be due to the inmate population of the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic.
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