Law enforcement veteran Matt Rodriguez is proving that he’s taking no prisoners in his pursuit to restore law and order in California. He has 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.”
While recently visiting the city’s historic Union Station, the retired sheriff’s Capt. shared that he sees a metaphor for everything that’s at stake in the primary election. He feels the L.A. County Sheriff’s Office has gone off the rails under the leadership of the current sheriff, Alex Villanueva.
“This is the biggest election in the history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” Rodriguez said. “The electorate in Los Angeles County got it wrong four years ago.”
Rodriguez is the only remaining registered Republican among the race’s eight nominees who are hoping to unseat Villanueva in the June 7 primary. Only 17 percent of registered voters in L.A. County are Republican. However, he hopes that when residents vote in the primary, they’ll be able to recognize the problems that the current sheriff has been unable to resolve during his current term, and vote for a change in policy.
One of the biggest problems plaguing L.A. County is its public transportation. The system is currently policed by a combination of deputies from LASD and officers from the Los Angeles and Long Beach police departments.
Last month, Villanueva threatened to pull his deputies off all buses, trains and platforms next Wednesday, June 1 if the LASD doesn’t get the full contract to police the transit system. He wants the LASD to enforce fares and code of conduct violations. In a letter to Metro’s board of directors, the current sheriff also said there’s a feeling of lawlessness on the system.
In response to Villanueva’s threat to remove his deputies from the metro system, Rodriguez said the sheriff crossed a line. “That, to me, was such an unconscionable act, because what he’s really doing is endangering millions of people each month who get transported on this very important system,” the Republican nominee declared.
Rodriguez hopes that all voters will remember that “Law and order is on the line and on the ballot” when they vote in the L.A. County Sheriff’s primary election on Tuesday, June 7.