CC - Item 6B - Discussion and Consideration of Support Letter for Los Angeles County Sheriff DepartmentROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BEN KIM, CITY MANAGER
DATE: MARCH 11, 2025
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF SUPPORT LETTER FOR LOS
ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT
SUMMARY
This item is presented to the City Council at the request of Mayor Margaret Clark to discuss the
possibility of sending a support letter to Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on behalf of
the Sheriffs Department. The letter would express support for their budget request to address the
ongoing deputy shortage and other initiatives that impact the contract cities they serve.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council discuss and provide direction to City staff.
FISCAL IMPACT - None
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process.
Attachment A: Draft Letter of Support
AGENDA ITEM 6.13
Attachment A
Draft Letter of Support
NLAYOR:
MARGARET CLARK
MAYOR PRO TEM:
SANDRA ARMENTA
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
SEAN RANG
POLLY LOW
STEVEN LY
March 4, 2025
Honorable Supervisor
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Dear ,
City of Wqsemead
8838 E. VALLEY BOULEVARD
ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA 91770
TELEPHONE (626) 569-2100
FAX (626) 569-2303
As the Mayor of the City of Rosemead, public safety remains the most important issue to me and my
community. As one of the 44 cities that contract with the Sheriff's Department for police response
and patrol services, we are concerned that the Sheriff's Department no longer has sufficient staffing
to properly secure our neighborhoods.
At the LA County Board of Supervisors hearing on February 21, Sheriff Luna indicated that the
Department has more than 1,400 vacant deputy positions. He said deputies "are doing 100% of the
work, with only 76% of the personnel."
I know that our local Sheriff's station's leadership is doing the best with the number of deputies they
have available, but our requests for more deputies and less dependency on overtime hours have not
been granted.
I have seen firsthand the physical and mental fatigue our deputy sheriffs are experiencing due to
excessive overtime demands. Many of them work nearly 100 hours of overtime every month. I fear
the next greater crisis will be the loss of deputy personnel to other agencies that offer a better -
balanced workload, where overtime is not a constant mandate but a choice.
Our County will soon be in the global spotlight, hosting the Olympics and World Cup. I don't want to
send a message to the world that our communities are not safe due to insufficient deputy positions.
These events should be an opportunity to highlight our cities and county's strengths, placing them
as premier tourist destinations. With the conditions as they are, we are not confident that our
community has the number of deputy sheriffs available to keep us and our visitors safe.
I urge you to match the sentiments of our Sheriff and call this what it is, a staffing crisis at the Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Please take immediate steps that will reduce the
number of vacancies and support retention efforts for deputy sheriff positions.
Our community leaders are depending on you to act immediately on this issue and report your
progress so that we can assure our residents and businesses that the Sheriff's Department's staffing
crisis is on its way to resolution.
Sincerely,
Margaret Clark, Mayor
City of Rosemead