A previously undisclosed search warrant served at the headquarters of the L.A. Metro in March indicates sheriff’s detectives are digging into a potential felony involving a contract between Metro and Peace Over Violence, a nonprofit run by a civilian oversight commissioner critical of Sheriff Alex Villanueva in the past.
The search warrant sought Peace Over Violence’s contracts; call logs from the “Off Limits” harassment hotline the nonprofit operated for Metro; surveys about sexual harassment complaints; any Metro internal investigations involving Peace Over Violence; and six years of communications among Metro employees, Peace Over Violence’s director, county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, a deputy of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other local officials, according to a copy of the search warrant obtained by the Southern California News Group.
Deputy Max Fernandez stated in an affidavit attached to the warrant that there is probable cause the records “show that a felony had been committed or that a particular person has committed a felony.”
Detectives served warrants at Metro and Peace Over Violence’s offices in February as well, but neither the Sheriff’s Department or Metro would provide details about the nature of the investigation at the time.
Politics at play
The timing and circumstances around the sheriff’s probe into Peace Over Violence raised concerns of political retaliation, particularly because of the involvement of Kuehl and Patricia Giggans, the executive director of Peace Over Violence and Kuehl’s appointee to the county’s Civilian Oversight Commission. The nine-member commission advises the Board of Supervisors and was created to increase transparency and accountability at the Sheriff’s Department.
It is not common for the Sheriff’s Department to conduct investigations into other county agencies. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office typically handles public corruption cases through its Public Integrity Division.
Commissioners have clashed with the department, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva in particular, in the past two years. Giggans chaired the commission when Villanueva defied a subpoena to appear at one of its meetings. Measure R, approved by voters in March 2020, grants that power to the Oversight Commission. In response, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge threatened Villanueva with contempt over the issue.
The commission, Kuehl and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas called for Villanueva’s resignation in September 2020. Then, in January, the Board of Supervisors discussed possible legal strategies for removing the sheriff from office after the California Attorney General announced a civil rights investigation into the department.
In a public letter Friday, Los Angeles County’s inspector general, Max Huntsman, accused the Sheriff’s Department of “significantly and intentionally” impeding his ability to provide oversight by refusing to cooperate with his office’s requests for documents and information over the past two years. Among the 30 examples of ignored requests, Huntsman stated his office asked the Sheriff’s Department for copies of the February search warrant, the affidavit and any documents containing witness statements and other evidence used to justify the search. The Sheriff’s Department never responded, he wrote.
Huntsman alleges the Sheriff’s Department is violating the law, which requires county departments to promptly provide “any information or records requested by the OIG.”
“While many of the matters inquired into by my office are sensitive in nature and not subject to public disclosure, a subordinate county official, even an elected one, has no right to refuse to cooperate in such investigations as they have been approved by the state Legislature as a means of implementing the ‘fundamental principle of good government in the Untied States of America that checks and balances are important in order to provide effectiveness and transparency,’ ” Huntsman wrote.
In response, the Sheriff’s Department released a statement saying, “The most recent letter from the OIG is yet another attempt to delegitimize the department and attack the transparency and accountability which has been instituted under Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The OIG currently receives everything they are legally entitled to, despite the many factual distortions, inaccuracies, and pattern of intellectual dishonesty which has become the norm for the current inspector general.”
The department promised to publish a more detailed response on its website.
Metro challenged legality of warrants
Attorneys representing L.A. Metro attempted to have the sheriff’s search warrant thrown out by the Los Angeles Superior Court in March. That case was later elevated to the Second District Court of Appeals the following month, but details about the reason for the appeal were not available Friday. In an email, Metro spokesman Dave Sotero stated Metro does not comment on pending litigation.
The appellate case names the state Attorney General’s Office and the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office as parties, but neither filed a response challenging the appeal, according to the court docket.
Contracts criticized
Metro’s sole sourced, no-bid contract with Peace Over Violence has drawn criticism in the past. An investigation by Fox 11 in September 2020 determined the hotline received only a few dozen calls per month, meaning each call cost about $8,000.
A Metro employee, Jennifer Loew, alleged Peace Over Violence received the contract in 2017 via a behind-the-scenes push from Supervisor Kuehl, a close friend and ally of Giggans. Loew sued Metro in February 2020, alleging discrimination and conspiracy, but a judge dismissed the case in August for a “lack of prosecution” after Loew, who represented herself, did not respond to a court order, according to court records.
Loew later filed a complaint with Los Angeles County’s Grand Jury alleging Metro’s leadership is corrupt and abusing their power, according to the Denver Post.
Kuehl is a member of Metro’s board and a member of Peace Over Violence’s advisory board. In a FAQ on its website, Peace Over Violence confirmed Kuehl and Giggan’s friendship, but denied it played any role in the selection.
In a statement to the Denver Post, Sotero, the Metro spokesman, stated Metro is “not aware of any improprieties related to the awarding of any of these contracts.”
“The main contract in question was managed by the employee herself, and her complaints were aired only after her subordinates were removed by Metro,” Sotero said, referencing Loew. “The Los Angeles sheriff is seeking records related to that contract, which is with an organization headed by a woman who sits on the Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission and has been highly critical of the Sheriff’s Department.”
Former Metro CEO Phil Washington is facing scrutiny in Denver, where he is a front-runner to become the Denver International Airport’s next CEO, after it was revealed his name appeared in the search warrant. Washington left Metro in May after deciding not to seek an extension or renewal of his contract.