Calling the current shared system of policing Los Angeles County's transit system a failure, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday he will pull all his deputies from transit patrol duties on July 1 unless his department is awarded a contract to provide all policing on buses, trains and stations.
"We are going to bid on the entire contract," he told reporters. "We're not going to bid for parts of it. We're not going to bid for the role of being overpaid security."
"We have all of the personnel that are dedicated to the system -- I have three jobs waiting for every single deputy," he said. "... I have the ability and the need to actually redeploy the personnel where they're actually going to be sworn peace officers working as cops, actually saving lives, preventing crime from occurring and solving crimes that occur. This is all about public safety.
"It's going to be a contract where we're going to enforce the code of conduct, fare evasion and the rule of law," he said. "That's what we're going to do."Meanwhile, Metro Board Chair and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis took exception to Villanueva's decision to issue Metro an ultimatum. Solis accused the LA County Sheriff of politicizing the Brooklyn subway mass shooting.
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