Public Safety
Platform
Prioritizing Public Safety
“We all want three things from our police, and these three things are universal regardless of your race, creed, or economic status. We want to be treated fairly, we want to be treated with respect, and we want the police to be responsive to our problems. This is the philosophy that has guided me over the life of my career.”
– Eli Vera for los angeles county sheriff
From 2019 to 2021, there was a 94% increase in homicides in the areas patrolled by the LA County Sheriff. In 2019, there were 145 homicides in Los Angeles County, a number that went up to 199 in 2020. According to the LA Times Homicide Report ending on March 12, 2022, 751 people have lost their lives in LA County in the past 12 months. Community members don’t feel safe in their own homes and neighborhoods; the fundamental job of the sheriff is to keep communities safe, and the current sheriff is failing us.
I am running for LA County Sheriff to bring forward a new vision of public safety and combat the rise of crime. My 33 years of service have taught me that we can’t arrest our way out of the conditions that allow for violent crime. Preventing crime is the only way forward for public safety today and sustained public safety tomorrow.
Our communities and community members deserve to be safe where they live, work, and play. I am running for LA County Sheriff to restore public safety today, and ensure lasting public safety for tomorrow.
On day one I will redirect department resources to disrupt the breeding cycle of violent crime in your neighborhood. A high percentage of those who repeatedly attack our communities are undeniably active gang members. Drug abuse and narcotics trafficking support the existence of gangs and work in lockstep, motivating acts of violence.
It is my commitment to actively suppress gang-related crime in partnership with appropriate external oversight and to revive the department’s Gang and Drug Diversion and Prevention programs designed to save our at-risk youth.
Throughout my career, I’ve created programs with proven results that turn around the lives of at-risk youth. If elected, I will expand such programs, collaborating with county partners and local unions to implement programming that provides our at-risk youth with alternatives, and implement programming that creates an incentive for our youth to enter the workforce or seek opportunities from higher education and trade schools. It’s critical that we focus on youth gang and drug diversion, and can do so by building robust programs to educate, train, and employ these youth. I will also place a special emphasis on foster youth, providing them the necessary support and encouragement which I, as a proud foster parent myself, know is crucial.
While Los Angeles County and the nation as a whole need healing from the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, the Sheriff has continued to inflame tensions with outlandish remarks and actions. The current sheriff has made exhaustive efforts to resist external oversight and through his relentless obstruction has destroyed the public trust. We need to clean up the culture at the sheriff’s department and root out any waste, fraud and abuse. Anyone in the sheriff’s department who breaks the law or hurts a member of the public must be held accountable.
Unlike the current Sheriff, I will work with the Civilian Oversight Commission to bring accountability and transparency. A leader faces their critics and responds to complaints in a timely, professional and polite manner.
As long as the Los Angeles County Sheriff is focused on politics, he isn’t focused on public safety. On day one, I will bring an end to the pattern and practice of politicizing the LASD. The Civilian Oversight Commission alleged in a memo that for years, the current Sheriff has developed a pattern of announcing investigations against people who are critical of him. The sheriff should be focusing his efforts on rising crime, supporting our youth and establishing a transparent organization, not attacking his critics. As Sheriff, I’ll put public safety before politics every day.
- Phone: (310) 488-2607
- Email: Eli@Vera4Sheriff.com
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Address: PO Box 94866
Pasadena, CA 91109 - Follow Us On Social Media: @Vera4Sheriff