Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

sands of police officers, falling
between 2020 and 2022 to the
lowest number of patrol officers
per capita since at least 1991,
according to the Public Policy
Institute of California.
Alameda was no exception. But
in its rebuilding effort, its police
department was willing to go
further with financial incentives
than any other city in the country,
offering $75,000 in signing
bonuses to new officers last
year. Ten months later, the recruitment
plan has worked, but
it has yet to be reflected in the
city’s crime statistics.
Last year, 30% of positions in
the Alameda Police Department
were still open. Since the signing
bonus was implemented, the
department has received over
400 applications, and 20 officers
have been hired, while four retired
or resigned, leading to a net
gain of 16 officers and nearing
the maximum of 88.
Alameda Chief of Police Nishant
Joshi said he expects the
department to have completely
filled its vacancies by June. The
$75,000 bonuses are funded by
unspent police salaries.
LASD SUPERVISORS REC-
OMMEND STRICTER RULES
FOR OFF-DUTY INTOXICATION
WHILE CARRYING FIREARMS
By Linh Tat
Daily Breeze, Torrance, Calif.
LOS ANGELES — In response
to dozens of incidents over the
years of law enforcement officers
being intoxicated while
carrying a gun, the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors on
Tuesday, Jan. 23, passed a motion
asking Sheriff Robert Luna
to consider banning deputies —
whether on duty or not — from
drinking while in possession of a
firearm.
The motion asks Luna to update
a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department policy “to include
a strict prohibition against
carrying firearms while consuming
alcohol, on or off-duty” in
addition to other measures. It
comes more than four years after
the county’s Office of Inspector
General (OIG) first recommended
changes to the department’s
policy on firearms safety.
In 2019, the OIG identified 81
cases in which Sheriff’s deputies
were charged with being under
the influence of alcohol while
a firearm was within reach. In
another report this past November,
the OIG identified eight more
incidents in which deputies consumed
alcohol while in possession
of a firearm.
These instances included
examples where the deputies
allegedly fired their weapons
negligently, threatened others
by displaying the gun or got into
fights while in possession of a
firearm.
“I was surprised that LASD
firearms safety policy was filled
with weaknesses and loopholes,”
said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who
introduced Tuesday’s motion
to the board, along with board
chair Lindsey Horvath.
“We know that mixing of alcohol
and guns never ends in a
good manner and, rather, increases
the risk of injuries and
death,” Solis added at the board
meeting.
The motion passed 4-0. Supervisor
Janice Hahn abstained
from voting, saying she believes
it should be up to Luna, as sheriff,
to set the policy for his department.
Tuesday’s motion referenced
both OIG reports and recent
news reports that alleged members
of a deputy gang got into
a confrontation with teenagers
outside a Montclair bowling
alley, during which an off-duty
deputy who had been drinking
flashed a gun.
The L.A. Sheriff’s Department
currently allows off-duty deputies
to carry a firearm if their
blood-alcohol content is below
0.08. If it’s higher than 0.08, a
deputy can challenge a claim
that he or she is unfit to handle
a firearm if they believe they
aren’t impaired — based on socalled
“rebuttable presumption
language” in the department’s
firearms safety policy.
DENVER POLICE OFFICER
PLEADS GUILTY IN SHOOTING
THAT WOUNDED 6 BYSTAND-
ERS
By Shelly Bradbury
The Denver Post
DENVER — The Denver police
officer accused of shooting six
bystanders while aiming at an
armed man in Lower Downtown
in July 2022 pleaded guilty to
misdemeanor assault on Tuesday
and was sentenced to probation.
Brandon Ramos, 30, can no
longer work as a police officer
in Colorado after the third-degree
assault conviction for the
July 2022 shooting near 20th and
Larimer streets.
As part of the plea agreement,
14 other criminal charges filed
against Ramos were dismissed,
and prosecutors and defense
attorneys agreed that Ramos be
sentenced to 18 months of pro-
The Blues - February ‘24 49