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The Los Angeles County Sheriff this week reiterated that he will not force his staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, in defiance of the county’s order that all of its 110,000 employees must present proof vaccination by October 1.
“No, I’m not forcing anyone,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said, after reading aloud a question submitted at a town hall-style event broadcast live on Facebook on Wednesday. “The problem has become so politicized that there are entire groups of employees who are willing to be fired and fired rather than getting the shot,” the sheriff said, adding that he couldn’t afford to waste time. staff during the county mandate.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department has over 10,000 officers and 8,000 civilian staff. It has suffered at least 18 coronavirus outbreaks, representing 334 cases, according to a Los Angeles Times investigative report last month.
The challenge from Sheriff Villanueva – a politically controversial figure – highlights the difficulty of trying to reduce overdue vaccination rates among law enforcement officers across the country. In many cities, authorities fear losing officers.
The New York Police Department, the largest in the country, said 67% of its staff had received at least one dose. This is despite a city mandate that went into effect last month that requires city employees to get vaccinated or undergo weekly tests. “I would support a vaccination warrant,” New York Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said Thursday at a press conference with Mayor Bill DeBlasio.
Forces in other cities have much lower vaccination rates. Memphis and Louisville recently reported that less than half of its agents had been vaccinated.
The Fraternal Order of Police, a national union that represents 356,000 officers, estimates that 724 officers have died from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic.
In Los Angeles, Hilda Solis, the chairman of the county watchdog, signed an executive order in August ordering all county employees to show proof of a coronavirus vaccination by October 1. The decree did not provide for a testing option like other local governments have done.
Sheriff Villanueva’s refusal to enforce this requirement is familiar. In July, when Los Angeles County became the first major county to return to requiring masks for all people inside public spaces, he said his officers would not enforce the warrant.
“Forcing the vaccinated and those who have already contracted Covid-19 to wear masks indoors is not supported by science,” Sheriff Villanueva wrote in a statement on his website, adding that his department “does not not spend our limited resources and instead seek voluntary compliance. “
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