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Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva

Villanueva: ‘Shameless Politicians,’ Pandemic Drive Up Violent Crime In L.A. County

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva reported Wednesday that the number of violent crimes his department responded to in January was up compared to last year, which he attributes in part to “shameless politicians campaigning on defunding the police.”

On Wednesday, Villanueva took to social media to discuss the number of violent crimes that his department responded to in the first month of 2021.

“Judging by these preliminary numbers for 2021, it is not a very encouraging sign for what happens once the pandemic is over,” he said.

Throughout the month of January, two dozen instances of criminal homicide were reported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, up by 140% when compared to January of 2020.

“That’s a huge number,” Villanueva said. “However, because the size of the numbers are smaller, the statistical significance doesn’t carry the same weight as another number that I’m going to tell you.”

That number Villanueva referred to is 20.17%, which is the percentage increase for instances of aggravated assault — which includes crimes such as assault with a deadly weapon and drive-by shootings — as 715 such incidents were reported in January of 2021 compared to 595 from the previous January.

“That 20% is kind of a harbinger of what’s going to happen with the homicide rate over a long period of time,” Villanueva said. “This is a bigger set of numbers, it has more statistical weight.”

The largest increase in terms of sheer numbers came in reported instances of grand theft auto, with that number nearly doubling from 856 in January of 2020 to 1,571 in January of 2021.

See Related: Saugus Trader Joe’s Reportedly Robbed At Gunpoint

“Some people think ‘Grand Theft Auto’ the game is in real life and are practicing it,” Villanueva said. “Some people are going to point to the consequences having been removed because of the zero-bail schedule or some of the directives from the new District Attorney. However (…) it’s too early to tell.”

Villanueva went on to state that one “big driver” of this increase in violent crime are “shameless politicians campaigning on defunding the police.”

“Discrediting (and) delegitimizing everything that law enforcement does has consequences,” he said. “There is going to be a criminal element that thinks ‘Well, the cops are under the gun, so we can get away with doing more things.’”

The Sheriff also attributed the increase in violent crime to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which the county did not have to contend with back in January of 2020.

“There’s a lot of different tensions created by the pandemic that are now being exacerbated by people acting out and committing crimes of violence,” Villanueva said. “The pandemic itself is rearranging a lot of the norms of society.”

Villanueva ultimately encouraged residents to come together to lower the violent crime rate instead of looking for someone or something to blame.

“Instead of spending all the time demonizing law enforcement, let’s find ways to work together,” Villanueva said. “Take those bricks, and instead of throwing them at somebody, let’s use that energy to build something with them.”


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Villanueva: ‘Shameless Politicians,’ Pandemic Drive Up Violent Crime In L.A. County

8 comments

  1. Who is causing the increased crime, where do they live, gangs?!

  2. I’m liking this sheriff a little more.. now if he’s let ICE back in the jail I’d like him even more

    • Also, he needs to join up with Sheriff Richard Mack’s group the CSPOA.

      • Mack is an Oath Keepers bedfellow. The oath Keepers were active in planning and executing the insurrection at the US Capitol January 6th. along with former president Donald Trump who is now on trial in the US Senate for inciting the attack on democracy that well-advertised day. And he is one of your heros?

        • An entire summer of BLM and Antifa rioting with cities burned, stores looted, police stations overtaken and even an “Autonomous Zone” created all of which was cheerleaded and bail money provided by prominent Democrats. Meanwhile, a handful of people enter public property on one day with minor damage done and you can’t shut up about insurrection and “incitement.” I’d laugh at you if I weren’t so angry at the way Joe Biden stole an election.

          • One should never post while angry lest they say something so monumentally stupid as you just did in repeating Trump’s Big Lie of an stolen election. Biden did not steal it, he won it. America rejected the bloated egotistical fool because we’d had enough of his foolishness and lack of concern for the job in which he was intrusted. Don’t forget, all the civil rights demonstrations taking place over the summer as well as the insurrection at the Capitol that took more than a half-dozen lives (NOT minor damage) happened under Trump’s watch.

  3. Hey Denny, there is something seriously wrong with you. Your comments are so dumb!

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About Michael Brown

Michael Brown has lived in Santa Clarita his whole life. Graduating from Saugus High School in 2016, he continued to stay local by attending The Master’s University, where he achieved a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. Michael joined KHTS in January of 2018 as a news intern, and has since gone on to become the News Director for the KHTS Newsroom. Since joining KHTS, Michael has covered many breaking news stories (both on scene and on air), interviewed dozens of prominent state and federal political figures, and interacted with hundreds of residents from Santa Clarita. When he is not working, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading any comic book he can get his hands on.