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Family Seeks Public’s Assistance In Locating Those Responsible for the Murder of Their Loved One; Detectives AnnounceD $10K Reward 1024 819 SIB Staff

Family Seeks Public’s Assistance In Locating Those Responsible for the Murder of Their Loved One; Detectives AnnounceD $10K Reward

On Thursday, March 18, 2021, Homicide Bureau detectives announced a $10,000 reward during a press conference in exchange for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the shooting death of Rodney Donaldson Jr. The reward was sponsored by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Second District.

On Saturday, January 2, 2021, at approximately 8:35 p.m., Rodney Donaldson Jr., was out for a walk when he was shot and killed by unknown suspects in the 500 block of North Kemp Avenue in the City of Compton.  A 2001-2004 Pontiac Grand Prix, black in color, was seen fleeing the area after the shooting.

Deputies and paramedics arrived at the scene and transported Rodney to the hospital, where several days later he succumbed to his injuries at the age of 28. Rodney earned a Business Degree from Benedict College in South Carolina and also played football. He worked full time and lived at home with his family. 

“He was a productive young man in this society. He was a university graduate, was employed full time and had plans to continue to advance his life. He had no criminal history,” said Rodney’s Aunt Joycelyn Donaldson. Rodney’s Great-Uncle, Isaac Dumas, also thanked the public for any assistance with his great-nephews case, and pleaded to those responsible by saying “I just ask that you do the right thing.”

If you have information about this senseless murder, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500.  If you prefer to provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile App on Google Play or the Apple App Store, or use the website http://lacrimestoppers.org/.

LASD WILL RESUME PARKING ENFORCEMENT ON APRIL 1, 2021 823 502 SIB Staff

LASD WILL RESUME PARKING ENFORCEMENT ON APRIL 1, 2021

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT PARKING ENFORCEMENT RESUMES APRIL 01, 2021

Beginning APRIL 01, 2021, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Parking Enforcement Detail will again ENFORCE ALL PARKING VIOLATIONS and reinstate the issuance of street sweeping citations, expired registration citations, as well as towing vehicles that have been warned via a “Red Tag” or any other vehicle in violation of the parking law of the state of California as well as the County of Los Angeles.

To avoid receiving a parking citation or having a vehicle towed, we urge drivers to be mindful of this change. 

RESUMED ENFORCEMENT WILL INCLUDE:

  • Street sweeping: All streets with posted signs for street sweeping will be enforced, per 15.20.07(2) LACVC
  • Expired registration: Vehicles with expired registration will be cited for 4000(a)(1) CVC; registrations expired in excess of six months, in violation of 4000(a)(1) CVC, will be towed, per 22651 (o)(1)(a) CVC,
  • Indigent Payment Plan: Anyone in need of financial assistance to pay citations, can make arrangement though the following: 

Phone: (866) 561-9744

Online: www.lasheriffparking.com

Mail:     Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

              P.O. Box 30629

              Los Angeles, CA 90030-0629

  • Red tag warnings: Red tag warnings will be issued to vehicles parked within the public right-of-way not displaying signs of movement, such as excessive dirt, spider webs, and debris underneath and around the tires, flat tires, missing parts, and vandalism.

If a vehicle has not been moved after 72 hours’ notice has been given, a citation for Abandonment Prohibited – 22523 (a)(b) CVC will be issued and the vehicle will be towed immediately, per 22651(k) CVC.

Sheriff standing with staff in the hall of the Hall of Justice building
LASD employees are now Mirroring LA County Demographics 600 600 SIB Staff

LASD employees are now Mirroring LA County Demographics

LA County Sheriff’s Department employees are now Mirroring LA County Demographics

Since taking office, Sheriff Villanueva’s vision of LASD’s hiring practices have resulted in sworn personnel representing what our communities look like.   Currently, the LA County demographics are reflected in all ranks from entry level deputy to the top ranks.  Sheriff Villanueva oversees the LASD which is comprised of approximately 9,800 sworn personnel, 18,000 total personnel who serve throughout Los Angeles County, a County with over 10 million residents, and spread out over 4,000 square miles.

  RACE2020 LASD SWORN RACE DEMOGRAPHICS2019 LA COUNTY RACE DEMOGRAPHICS * CensusReporter.org
White31.2%26%
Black7.5%8%
Asian5.5%15%
Hispanic52.5%49%
Other3.3%2%

During Sheriff Villanueva’s tenure there has also been equity in promotions at the Executive ranks.  For example, Sheriff Villanueva has appointed one Hispanic and one Asian to the Undersheriff position, a rank designating the second in command of the Sheriff’s Department, which is currently held by Undersheriff Timothy K. Murakami.

At the Division Chief level, this is the first time in the history of the Department there are four African American Division Chiefs. 

As of January 31, 2021, the Executive ranks from Captain to Chief were represented by 26 females, compared to 94 males, which resulted in 21.66% female and 78.33% male representation.  Department females account for 18.3% of LASD personnel at all ranks (The national average is 11.9%). 

Under Sheriff Villanueva’s leadership, sworn personnel and the leadership of the LASD are truly reflective of the communities that we serve throughout LA County.

Deputy Albanese
End of watch – deputy thomas j. albanese 1024 1024 SIB Staff

End of watch – deputy thomas j. albanese

On Thursday, February 25, 2021, at 8:58 AM, Deputy Thomas J. Albanese, 41, was killed in an unfortunate traffic collision at the intersection of Del Amo Boulevard and Paramount Boulevard in the City of Lakewood. Deputy Albanese was traveling northbound on Paramount Boulevard, approaching Del Amo, when he attempted to conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle ahead of him.

As Deputy Albanese entered the intersection, he was struck by a sedan traveling westbound on Del Amo Boulevard. The force of the collision was extreme, and Deputy Albanese died instantly. Deputy Albanese was a seven-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department. He started his career with the Sheriff’s Department as a Security Assistant in 2013 in the Aero Bureau. In 2015, he took an oath of office to serve his duties as a peace officer faithfully and was assigned to Men’s Central Jail. He went to patrol at Transit Services Bureau and then transferred to Lakewood Station as a Field Training Officer.

Deputy Albanese’s last assignment was as a Pico Rivera Station Motor Deputy but was working overtime at the Lakewood Station when the tragic accident occurred. In addition to his short but impressive career with the Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Albanese was part of the Marine Corps, serving from March 2001 through March 2010. He served four tours in Iraq and was highly decorated.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said, “Thomas touched the lives of many people while working in the Department. He received several commendations for his work in patrol and helping the citizens of Los Angeles County.”Deputy Albanese is survived by his wife of 12 years, Erica, and his two young boys. He will be greatly missed by all of us in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Family.

LA COUNTY SHERIFF VILLANUEVA LAUNCHES THE “WAGE THEFT TASK FORCE” 1024 683 SIB Staff

LA COUNTY SHERIFF VILLANUEVA LAUNCHES THE “WAGE THEFT TASK FORCE”

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF ALEX VILLANUEVA LAUNCHES THE “WAGE THEFT TASK FORCE”


Today, LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva launched the first of its kind “Wage Theft Task Force” to protect undocumented and documented workers in Southern California.  “Rebuilding trust with our community, in particular the undocumented, is crucial to public safety, I want those wage theft victims to know that their immigration status does not matter,” said Sheriff Alex Villanueva.  This Wage Theft Task Force is a collaboration with the California Labor Commission, the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs, the LA County District Attorney’s Office, the LA County Federation of Labor and several community groups.

According to a UCLA Labor Center Study, low wage earners are the most vulnerable and a whopping $28 million dollars is stolen every week in Los Angeles County alone due to wage theft by unscrupulous employers.  California Labor Commissioner Lilia Garcia-Brower said, “I applaud Sheriff Villanueva for his leadership to stand up for hard working Angelinos and partner with my office to build a targeted judgment enforcement task force.”

Potential victims of wage theft are urged to reach out to a LASD patrol station to file a complaint, which will be referred to our Special Victims Bureau to investigate.  Upon completion of their investigation, the case may be referred to the DA’s Office and/or the California Labor Commission.  Attorneys will decide if this is a criminal matter or not; however, all victims (regardless of the criminal nature of their case) will be referred to the Office of Immigrant Affairs for further support.  Eventually, after a judge renders a decision and if it is in favor of the victim, LASD will serve the court order to help the victim recover his/her stolen wages.

Virgilio Gonzalez was a live-in healthcare worker for the elderly disabled in a congregate setting.  Virgilio says he was a victim of wage theft and in 2018 after filing a report with the Labor Commission, he received a judgment for nearly $70,000.00 in back pay.  “Wage theft hurt me and my family, it is a crime, and I hope nobody else has to go through what I did,” said Mr. Gonzalez.

LASD is committed to transparency, accountability and public safety for all including the undocumented.

If you are a victim of Wage Theft or know someone who is, click here for more information.

Civilians are outside infront of a Sheriff vehicle with it's doors open. Civilians are wearing protective head gear holding training pistols. Training deputies are on the side of them providing instruction.
Members of the Community participate in Tactics and Survival Training 900 476 SIB Staff

Members of the Community participate in Tactics and Survival Training

Members of the Community participate in Tactics and Survival Training

LASD values transparency with the public by engaging in open and honest communication.  Last year, members of the community were invited to participate in hands-on training with our Tactics and Survival unit to promote transparency during critical incidents.  During these scenarios, veteran law enforcement instructors recreated high stress scenarios that Deputies experience on a regular basis.  Community Members were confronted with several different scenarios including some when a mock firearm or other deadly weapon were produced.

During one scenario, a role player stumbled out of his residence while holding his head as if he was an injured victim. A second man exited the residence and approached the community members. Without any warning, he suddenly retrieved a handgun from his waistband and fired several rounds before they even had time to react and return fire.

In another scenario, a role player was sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle and lifted his leg to reveal a loaded handgun that he was sitting on.  The training team pointed out this is one reason why, during traffic stops, Deputies will often direct members of the public to leave their hands on the steering wheel or in plain view. 

Marquis Diamond, a community representative who attended the training program, shared his experience, “Working in the community, we get to see things from the social media side; and sometimes, like we just realized today, that’s not always what’s accurate.  So coming to an event like this, it allows us to see the perception from the officer’s eyes.  That way when we’re in our communities we get to let them know: let the facts come out first, before we make judgement on how this situation played out.”

LASD thanks the community members who took the time to participate in these training scenarios.

LASD Sheriff's Department Logo
Deputy Clicks and Subgroups Policy 800 170 SIB Staff

Deputy Clicks and Subgroups Policy

Sheriff Alex Villanueva addresses policy on deputy cliques and subgroups With Department Members.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva is the FIRST Los Angeles County Sheriff to successfully implement a policy banning “deputy cliques.” The policy went into effect in February 2020, and a video reinforcing his message was recently released to the Department. All sworn Department members have been briefed and are being held accountable. This is what culture change within the organization looks like.

View LASD Policy

Sheriff Alex Villanueva discusses the LASD policy banning Deputy Cliques.
Portrait of Captain Mark Reyes in uniform, sitting infront of the American Flag
MARK REYES PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN- TEMPLE STATION 819 1024 SIB Staff

MARK REYES PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN- TEMPLE STATION

PROMOTION ANNOUNCEMENT – MARK REYES PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN, TEMPLE STATION

Mark Reyes has been selected by the area contract cities and Sheriff Alex Villanueva as the next Captain of Temple Sheriff Station (TEM), following the recent retirement of Captain David Flores.  This will be Reyes’ second tour at TEM, having previously been assigned there as a lieutenant.

Reyes began his time on the Department as an explorer at 16 years old.  He was also a community service officer and a custody assistant prior to becoming a deputy.  In 1995, he became a custody deputy at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.  He worked in patrol at Transit Services Bureau and Industry Station.  He was a field training officer and a member of a gang task force with the Community Oriented Policing Bureau before promoting to sergeant.

Reyes served five years as a sergeant, both in custody and in the field.  He also worked as an investigator at Internal Affairs Bureau.
When Reyes promoted to lieutenant, he transferred to North County Correctional Facility where he worked as a watch commander.  He then transferred to TEM, where he served as a watch commander and Detective Bureau lieutenant.  From there, he moved to Narcotics Bureau where he was assigned as the operations lieutenant.

Since 2019, Reyes has served as an executive aide for Central Patrol Division, the Assistant Sheriff of Patrol Operations, and lastly, for the Undersheriff’s Office.

This will be Reyes’ first assignment as a captain.  He grew up in the TEM area and is a graduate of Rosemead High School.  He has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Union Institute & University and is fluent in reading, writing and speaking Spanish.  Reyes has two adult children; his daughter is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University and his son is a police officer for another local agency.  He enjoys traveling, golfing and spending time with his family and friends.  Reyes is also a recipient of the Department’s Meritorious Conduct Gold award for rescuing a pilot after an airplane crash.

Temple Station was established in 1926 and provides law enforcement services for the cities of Bradbury, Duarte, Rosemead, South El Monte, and Temple City, as well as the unincorporated areas of Arcadia, Monrovia, Pasadena and San Gabriel.  Reyes will be in charge of approximately 200 professional and sworn personnel who handle an average of 3,900 calls for service per month.

Multi-Agency Effort Nets Recovery of 33 Missing Children in Operation “Lost Angels” 506 414 SIB Staff

Multi-Agency Effort Nets Recovery of 33 Missing Children in Operation “Lost Angels”

Multi-Agency Effort Nets Recovery of 33 Missing Children in Operation “Lost Angels”

During the month of January, which is also Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department worked in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and two dozen other local law enforcement and non-governmental agencies to help identify, locate and safely recover children that had been missing or were possibly being sexually exploited and/or trafficked.

As a result of this multi-agency effort, which began on Monday, January 11, 2021, 33 children have successfully been found. 8 of those children were confirmed as being sexually exploited at the time they were found and 2 of them were rescued multiple times from a location in which commercial sex trafficking is known to operate.

This operation resulted in the arrest of one suspected Human Trafficker, on state charges, and helped to initiate several new investigations.

Throughout these operations, victims are provided with information about resources on how to obtain housing, continue their education and childcare, just to name a few. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the California Department of Child & Family Services and other non-government victim advocacy organizations were also on hand to provide their services and assist in any way.  

“Collaboration with our law enforcement partners is key to ending the vicious cycle of modern day slavery. I’m committed to doing everything we can to stop human trafficking,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the below partner agencies who helped make this operation successful:

California Highway Patrol

Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office

United States Attorney’s Office

United States Marshall’s Service

Internal Revenue Service

Drug Enforcement Agency

Health and Human Services

Inglewood Police Department

El Segundo Police Department

Pomona Police Department

Glendale Police Department

Long Beach Police Department

San Diego Police Department

Wichita Police Department

Langston University Police (Oklahoma)

San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office

San Luis Obispo District Attorney Bureau of Investigation

Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office

California Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services

Los Angeles County Probation Office

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Wayfinder Family Services

Arizona Department of Child Safety

For more information about this operation, visit:

33 missing children, including some who were sexually exploited, found during operation in SoCal: FBI
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/33-missing-children-including-some-who-were-sexually-exploited-found-during-multi-agency-operation-in-socal/

Anyone who believes they may be victims of human trafficking may call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline (NHTRC) at 888-373-7888 or visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/ The NHTRC is a national, confidential, toll-free hotline, with specialists available to answer calls at all times.

Those who wish to report incidents of suspected human trafficking may call their Sheriff’s Station or local FBI office.

For more information about this operation, please contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department-Special Victims/Human Trafficking Bureau or the FBI Media Relations Office.

Picture of Sheriff Alex Villanueva infront of the L A City Skyline, Text reads, In the Community with Sheriff Villanueva – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Monthly Update of Community Events, Press Conferences and Announcements
In the Community – January 15, 2021 1024 428 SIB Staff

In the Community – January 15, 2021

Transparency via SB 1421: Update

January 12, 2021

Since January 1, 2019, LASD received 3,725 SB-1421 record requests, and to date, 3,593 of those requests have been fulfilled.  In addition, 335 cases have been publicly posted on www.lasd.org under the “Transparency” tab.  There is more to come, now that funding has been approved for the much needed tracking and redaction software… READ MORE

LASD Sheriff Villanueva Responds to #VictimsMatter

January 7, 2021

Los Angeles County Sheriff Villanueva firmly believes, “We are not safer by putting the interests of offenders over the needs of victims of crime.”… READ MORE AND VIEW VIDEO

LASD Assists Our Public Health Partners in Distributing the COVID-19 Vaccine

January 6, 2021

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is proud to assist our public health partners in this historical and monumental mission to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine. The goal is to help slow the spread of COVID-19… READ MORE

Malibu Search and Rescue Team Rescues Injured Hiker 

January 05, 2021

Never a dull moment with the Malibu Search and Rescue Team. These types of specialized teams have been utilized during a critical call for service. Their swift action has resulted in saving countless lives. Just recently, an injured hiker recently was rescued from Malibu State Creek Park… READ MORE

Sheriff Alex Villanueva Recaps LASD and Super-Spreader Enforcement for December, 2020

DECEMBER 30, 2020

LASD Super-Spreader Enforcement Team has been hard at work tracking Super-Spreader events during the Month December, 2020… READ MORE

LASD Sheriff Alex Villanueva and the Dream Center Co-Founder Pastor Matthew Barnett Build Community Partnerships

December 31, 2020

The year 2020 has been a difficult and challenging time for many families and communities. It was a privilege to be a part of “The First Responders Toy Giveaway” event to show appreciation to the residents we serve… READ MORE AND VIEW VIDEO