Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs

The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) is one of two police unions for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) officers, the other being the Los Angeles Sheriff's Professional Association (LASPA).

Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
FoundedFebruary 1970 (1970-02)
Members8,200 (2016)
JournalThe Dispatcher
Key people
  • Ronald Hernandez, President
  • James Wheeler, Vice President
Office location2 Cupania Cir
Monterey Park, CA 91755
CountryLos Angeles County, California
Websitealads.org

ALADS represented 8,200 deputies and district attorney investigators in 2006.[1]

History

ALADS was founded in February 1970 by 10 deputies.[2] In 1976, ALADS was certified to represent Bargaining Unit 0611, composed of sworn officers of Los Angeles County.[2]

In 1999, a splinter union, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Professional Association (LASPA), was formed, due to disagreements with ALADS over providing greater public transparency of ALADS documents, including financial statements, employee and attorney contracts, and expense records.[3]

In 2009, ALADS partnered with Los Angeles Police Protective League, the LAPD union, to form a political action committee (PAC) called the California Law and Order Independent Expenditure Committee.[4][5] ALADS also operates a PAC called the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs PAC.[6]

In 2014, a power struggle within ALADS over illegitimate power grabs and misuse of union funds led to the splintering of ALADS.[7] Armando Macias, who held the position of ALADS president, was accused of withdrawing $100,000 from the union's PAC.[7][8][9]

Leadership

As of 2020, ALADS is led by Ronald Hernandez, President, and James Wheeler, Vice President.[2]

Controversies

ALADS has successfully prevented the Sheriff’s Department from disclosing information from deputies’ personnel records to the public.[10] The union also took the department to court in 1991 and 2009 to prevent efforts to expedite the administrative review of officer-involved shootings.[10] ALADS sued the department in 2009 to stop a reform that would have allowed investigators to simultaneously pursue administrative reviews and criminal proceedings for officer-involved shootings.[10]

In the 2018 election, ALADS spent US$1.32 million supporting the election bid of Alex Villanueva, over incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell.[11][12] This was despite Villaneuva's former backing of an ALADS splinter group.[11]

In the lead-up to the March 2020 Los Angeles County District Attorney election, LAPPL contributed over US$800,000 to a political action committees in order to defeat George Gascón, a reform-minded candidate running for the office of Los Angeles County District Attorney.[13] During the election, law enforcement unions, including ALADS, had instead contributed over 75% of the $2.2 million raised by incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey.[14] Lacey ultimately won the race, given broad financial support from law enforcement unions.[15]

Finances

ALADS is registered as a 501(c)(5) non-profit organization.[16] In 2017, ALADS had a total revenue of US$11,086,219 and total assets of $33,107,777.[16]

References
  1. "President of LA County law enforcement union calls for increased 'militarization' of police". Daily News. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  2. "Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs". alads.org. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  3. "About Us". LASPA. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  4. "Law enforcement unions forming PAC". Daily News. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  5. "Union alliance may boost political clout". Daily News. 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  6. "Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs PAC". cal-access.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  7. "L.A. County sheriff's deputies union embroiled in power struggle". Los Angeles Times. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  8. "Divided L.A. County sheriff's deputies union is without a leader". Los Angeles Times. 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  9. "Deputies' union removes president". Los Angeles Times. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  10. McGahan, Jason (2016-10-12). "L.A County Has Had More Than 1,300 Police Shootings Since 2000. Why Has No Officer Been Charged?". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 2017-09-22.
  11. "Alex Villanueva, the county's new top cop, has been quietly fighting for a political win for decades". Los Angeles Times. 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  12. "L.A. County deputies union endorses Alex Villanueva for sheriff, boosting upset bid against Jim McDonnell". Los Angeles Times. 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  13. "LA Police Union Contributes $1 Million To Anti-George Gascón PAC". The Appeal. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  14. "Police unions, justice reformers battle for dollars in bitter L.A. County D.A. race". Los Angeles Times. 2020-02-24. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  15. Stuart, Gwynedd (2020-03-09). "How Jackie Lacey Managed to Dominate the DA's Race Despite Strong Opposition". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  16. ProPublica, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, Brandon Roberts, Alec Glassford. "Association For Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2020-06-02.

See also
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