Law enforcement veteran Matt Rodriguez is once again proving that he’s taking no prisoners in his pursuit to restore law and order in California. As the only remaining Republican candidate still running in this year’s L.A. County Sheriff election, he declared that he’ll take a “very conservative position on how we can solve all of society’s ills that we’re seeing in L.A. County,” including the crime rate, which has drastically risen over the past two years.
As reported on TV Mix, Rodriguez stated that if he’s elected into office, he’ll “work cohesively with community members, elected officials and other experts in different fields to solve society’s problems,” most notable L.A. County’s current high crime rate. He made the declaration while participating in an one-on-one interview on the AirTalk news program on KPCC FM radio last Wednesday, May 4.
As the only conservative candidate left vying to become one of the top leadership police positions in a county that’s overwhelmingly Democratic, Rodriguez’s unique beliefs and tactics will help lower the crime rate. One way the nominee feels the crime rate can be reduced is by recalling L.A. County District Attorney, George Gascón.
“I’m the only candidate who has signed the recall petition” against the attorney and former police officer,” Rodriguez shared. “Under George Gascón’s model of the justice system, I don’t see any justice whatsoever.
The district attorney is one of the authors of Prop 47, which recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors across California. The L.A. County Sheriff candidate feels the proposition “has led to the degradation of our society. I’m on record, going all the way back to 2016, when that legislation was being enacted, saying ‘This is going to be a disaster for our community,'” the L.A. County Sheriff candidate added.
Rodriguez also shared how he’ll approach working with Gascón if the latter remains in office as District Attorney, including how he’ll handle their stark differences in policing and political justice philosophy. “My job is to enforce the law…(so) I will motivate and support the deputies to get back on the street and enforce the law, hold criminals accountable, and make them have a consequence when they commit a crime. Whether George Gascón decides to file the case or not is not my concern,” the Sheriff candidate stated.
“I will continue to do my job, take criminals off the street, deliver them to George Gascón’s door. If he chooses not to file, I’ll make that very public. I will post every single day the people we take to jail, and I’ll post the people he chooses not to prosecute and releases. We’ll track the behavior of that particular individual until this community has had enough of this model, which is obviously not working,” Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez, who once served as Captain in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, also shared on his official campaign website that he feels “Public safety is a shared responsibility that requires positive working relations built upon public consent, trust, understanding and innovation.” As Sheriff, he’ll rally the community to join the department to solve criminal problems and create a safer community for everyone.