Los Angeles, CA – Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he will defy orders by city, state, and federal officials to force his deputies and employees to get vaccinated and will not fire anyone who does not. Villanueva said this week violent crime and murders are up significantly in the city and he cannot risk a decrease in manpower.
“No, I’m not enforcing it,” he said.
He added the COVID-19 vaccination debate has become too political.
“I’m not forcing anyone. The issue has become so politicized. There are entire groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get vaccinated, so I don’t want to be in a position to lose 5 percent, 10 percent of my workforce overnight on a vaccine mandate while the same time we are barebones with the defunding effort, so this is like the worst of two worlds,” he said.
On November 4th, a Los Angeles City Council ordinance will become active that requires vaccination passports, and businesses who violate the ordinance will be fined and owners could face jail time.
There will be a $1,000 fine for the first offense, $2,000 for the second, and $5,000 for the third. Those fines kick in on November 29th.