Robert Luna

Luna's status as a former police chief for Long Beach — one of the region's marquee cities, with 274,000 registered voters — likely makes him one of the frontrunners in the race.

Luna, born in East Los Angeles, spent 37 years with the Long Beach Police Department and, as chief, worked to diversify the agency, though women are still far from equally represented.

Under Luna, the department also revised its use-offorce policy in 2020 to mandate reverence for life, medical assistance and a duty to intervene. And from 2016 to the end of 2021, use-offorce incidents had fallen by 27.5%, while citizen complaints had dropped 30.3%.

Still, his tenure as chief wasn't without its issues.

Some in the community had criticized him for not backing wide-ranging reforms in the wake of George

Floyd's murder. He said that while he was open to changes, the city shouldn't move too fast.

His department also previously faced criticism for using a texting app that permanently erases messages and for having a low COVID-19 vaccination rate.

When he announced his candidacy for sheriff in December, racial justice activist group Black Lives Matter protested.

Luna's priorities, if elected, would be reducing violent and property crime through community engagement and social services, he said.

The former police chief also said he wants to address homelessness, restore public trust and accountability in the Sheriff's Department, reform and modernize the agency and its jails, and boost the well-being of deputies and other department employees.

He would accomplish these goals, Luna said, by forging stronger relationships with other community players.

“Working with the community is a big part for me,” Luna said. “If you are not working in partnership with the community, you cannot reduce crime.”

Because he has never worked for the Sheriff's Department, Luna said, he will bring a fresh perspective.

His policy ideas include a plan to address post-traumatic stress disorder among deputies and other employees, something he said contributes to misconduct, including deputy gangs.

“I believe that a lot of the misconduct that occurs is untreated PTSD,” Luna said.

Various studies, he said, show that treating mental health issues among lawenforcement officers reduces misconduct.

Still, Luna said, he would demote or fire those found to violate his zero-tolerance policy for gangs.

“The fact that we're talking about gangs and police or deputies in the same sentence is crazy,” he said. “It's unacceptable.”

Luna said he plans to increase transparency in the department to the media and public, as well as to outside observers and oversight organizations.

“I would open every file, pull back every curtain,” Luna said, “and say, `You come in and look at whatever you need to look at.' ”

Much of what he plans to do, Luna said, would be a “180” from the current administration.

“If I get elected, we're not going to be sitting here a year or two from now talking about corruption scandals or that I'm not getting along with the Board of Supervisors, or I'm being accused of obstruction of justice,” Luna said. “That's just not going to happen.”

Rodriguez

Steinbrenner

Strong

But either way, the accusation contrasted sharply with what had been, according to Vera, a previously close relationship with Villanueva.

Vera, who rose through the ranks of the Sheriff's Department, working in multiple division and bureaus, was promoted to the rank of chief in December 2018.

He and Villanueva had worked closely together in the past, Vera said, even consulting on his boss's 2018 campaign.

But, Vera said, as soon as Villanueva took office, things changed.

“He said the reason he came to me was he needed someone who would speak truth to power, to tell him that the emperor wasn't wearing any clothes and to give their opinion,” Vera said. “But he has very much proven to be someone who will immediately retaliate against someone who dares to have a different opinion.”

Vera said he wants to restore public confidence in the Sheriff's Department.

He would do that, he said, “by partnering with the Board of Supervisors, collaborating with oversight, creating clear channels of communication with all whom we serve, and setting aside differences for the fulfillment of one common purpose — serving the residents of Los Angeles County.”

Vera has also been critical of Villanueva's handling of the East Los Angeles Sheriff's Station, home to deputies accused of operating as a gang.

He had been enlisted to help improve things at that station, Vera said.

“We developed a multipronged approach on how we were going to deal with East L.A.,” Vera said, “and how we were going to change the culture.”

The approach included transferring the bulk of the people working at the station to other areas, including supervisors and training officers, and bringing new people in to change the entire culture of the station.

But when returning from an extended leave while recovering from back surgery, Vera said, he learned that none of what he had recommended had been done.

If elected, Vera said, he would stay away from the types of political clashes that have marred the current administration.

“What I plan on being is a sheriff that is not hyperpolitical,” he said, “that stays away from any politics that does not directly impact the office of the sheriff, and one builds collaboration in the county.”

along the street as a person of color.

H e has accused Villanueva of eroding public trust in the agency, saying he “used fear to consolidate power and tried to rehire ex-deputies that committed domestic violence or excessive force and who make us good cops look bad.”

Rhambo, raised in Compton and South Los Angeles after being adopted from South Korea, said his experience in law enforcement includes an assignment in the internal affairs bureau, where he helped form the Shooting and Force Response Team in the wake of the Rodney King beating.

He also headed the Asian Crime Task Force, commanding a group of investigators and multilingual deputies to investigate crimes committed against Asian people

And, Rhambo said, he helped start the Sheriff's Community Oriented Policing Bureau, which focuses on suppressing violent crime, combating homelessness, offering quality-of-life programs and creating mental-health response teams.

“It's not all about arresting your way out of the crime,” he said. “It's really about identifying what's causing the crime.”

Housing is another issue he wants to address, Rhambo said, first by helping those getting out of jails and prisons find a place to live, and by lobbying the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to relax rules that still exclude many people convicted of crimes from Section 8 housing assistance.

“My contention is if you can pay for my housing while I'm in jail,” Rhambo said, “why can't I have housing when I leave jail?”

Another way he would address housing problems and homelessness, if elected, would be through the department's Civil Management Bureau, which helps with evictions. Instead of just helping landlords get tenants out, Rhambo said, he would work to prevent the evictions in the first place.

“If we know that someone is in jeopardy of losing their housing,” Rhambo said, “we would get a rapid response to them if they're at risk of being evicted.”

Vera

Villanueva