About Sheriff Alex Villanueva
Read Sheriff Villanueva's Op-Eds
- Opinion: Wage theft thrives in secrecy. Here’s how my office is working to stop it. (Medium)
- Opinion: Wage theft thrives in secrecy. Here’s how my office is working to stop it. (The Washington Post)
- Sheriff Alex Villanueva OP/ED: The Truth About LASD
- OP/ED: Los Angeles County Sheriff Villanueva Slams L.A. Times Editorial Board for ‘Promoting a False Narrative’
About Alex Villanueva
Alex Villanueva is the 33rd Sheriff of Los Angeles County, and he is the first Spanish-speaking sheriff in the county. In 2018, retired sheriff’s lieutenant Villanueva defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonell, becoming the first to unseat the incumbent in over 100 years. Sheriff Villanueva also became the first Democratic Sheriff in LA County in almost 140 years.
Sheriff Villanueva was born in Chicago in 1963 to a Puerto Rican father and Polish-American mother. His family moved to Rochester, New York, and when Villanueva was nine years old, they moved to Aguadillo, Puerto Rico. Sheriff Villanueva is married to retired LA County Sheriff Sergeant Vivian Villanueva.
Education
- Villanueva earned an associate degree in Liberal Arts from San Bernardino Valley College in 1986, and a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from the University of the State of New York, Regents College.
- Villanueva earned a master’s degree from CSU Northridge, and later earned a Doctoral degree in Public Administration from University of La Verne. Villanueva’s dissertation focused on leadership diversity in law enforcement.
Career
Alex Villanueva is the 33rd Sheriff of Los Angeles County, and he is the first Spanish-speaking sheriff in the county. In 2018, retired sheriff’s lieutenant Villanueva defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonell, becoming the first to unseat the incumbent in over 100 years. Sheriff VIllanueva also became the first Democratic Sheriff in LA County in almost 140 years.
Sheriff Villanueva was born in Chicago in 1963 to a Puerto Rican father and Polish-American mother. His family moved to Rochester, New York, and when Villanueva was nine years old, they moved to Aguadillo, Puerto Rico. Sheriff Villanueva is married to retired LA County Sheriff Sergeant Vivian Villanueva.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Los Angeles Sentinel
I was elected because of distrust in a department wrapped in many scandals regarding racial profiling, rising crime, a lack of transparency, and a failure to weed out unethical leadership. All of this was overshadowed by an unpopular collaboration with federal immigration agencies.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva on La Opinion
Fui elegido porque en el departamento habia desconfianza y escandalos con respecto a los perfiles raciales, el aumento de la delincuencia, la falta de transparencia y la incapacidad de eliminar el liderazgo no etico. Todo esto se vio ensombrecido por una colaboraci6n impopular con las agencias federales de inmigracion.