The parents of a Los Angeles County deputy who was shot and killed while sitting in his patrol car plan to file a lawsuit accusing the sheriff’s department and county leaders of putting law enforcement officers at risk by forcing them to work overtime. excessive due to a serious lack of staff, a lawyer announced on Tuesday.
Investigators said Officer Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was ambushed on Sept. 16 while waiting for a traffic light to change in Palmdale, a city of more than 167,000 residents in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County.
“I don’t want any parent to have to sit at a Thanksgiving dinner or holiday dinner with someone missing, like we had to do this year,” the congressman’s mother, Kim Clinkunbroomer, said tearfully at a news conference.
“If I had not been fatigued and exhausted, I would have responded with confidence; he would be here today,” said the deputy’s father, Michael Clinkunbroomer.
Clinkunbroomer had racked up 69 hours of overtime in the two weeks before the shooting and had worked a double shift the day before, said attorney Brad Gage, who represents the slain officer’s parents.
Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was shot and killed in an ambush at a traffic light in Palmdale. ZUMAPRESS.com
Clinkunbroomer was so exhausted from overwork that his senses dulled and he failed to notice “the telltale signs” of an impending ambush, Gage said.
Prosecutors have charged Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, with one count of murder, plus special circumstance allegations of murder of a law enforcement officer, murder committed by stalking, murder committed by drive-by shooting and personal use of a firearm.
Cataneo Salazar has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Kim Clinkunbroomer, Clinkunbroomer’s mother, wipes away tears as she answers questions from the media after announcing a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department at a news conference in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 2023. AP
Gage said in a government lawsuit filed Monday that Clinkunbroomer was forced to work up to 100 hours of overtime each month.
Gage accuses Sheriff Robert Luna, department officials and county leaders of knowingly endangering the lives of law enforcement officers by imposing excessive amounts of mandatory overtime.
The claim is the precursor to a wrongful death lawsuit and names the county sheriff’s department and the Board of Supervisors. County officials have 45 days to respond to the claim before a lawsuit can be filed.
Family and colleagues of Ryan Clinkunbroomer look on during the deputy’s funeral. AP
Gage said the lawsuit would seek $20 million in damages and changes to the sheriff’s department’s personnel and scheduling policies.
In a statement Tuesday, the sheriff’s department did not comment on the potential lawsuit. Luna, who was sworn in as sheriff a year ago, previously promised to make increasing the number of deputies a priority.
“The senseless ambush of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer was the epitome of evil and the Department continues to mourn his death. “We lost a valued member of our Department family who was committed to serving our communities,” the department’s statement said. “The Sheriff’s Department remains committed to ensuring a successful prosecution against the individual responsible for Ryan’s murder. Our thoughts remain with the entire Clinkunbroomer family.”
Attorney Bradley Gage, center, and Kim and Mike Clinkunbroomer, the parents of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, announce the precursor to a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department at a news conference. AP
Law enforcement officers and the public are at risk because “fatigue resulting from these demanding work schedules impairs officers’ ability to remain alert and respond effectively in the line of duty,” the lawsuit states.
“Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors knew of the dangers to their employees as a result of intentionally forcing overtime, but they intentionally carried out such actions in conscious disregard of the rights and safety of the deputies,” Gage writes in the complaint.
The Board of Supervisors did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the allegations.
“Everyone likes to work a little extra time to make a little extra money, but they don’t want to work so many overtime hours that they can’t take care of themselves and others,” said Gage, the family’s attorney.
The head of the deputies’ union said staffing shortages are an ongoing problem in Los Angeles, but did not respond to specific questions about the average overtime hours worked by its members.
“The department’s staffing crisis is pushing our deputies to their limits, and unfortunately sometimes beyond. We need our elected officials to take a more aggressive and smart approach to addressing the department’s inability to recruit and retain qualified people,” Rich Pippin, president of the Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs Association, said in a statement. “Failure to do so can only result in more tragic results, not only for our sheriff’s deputies, but for the millions of people who depend on them for their protection.”
The casket of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer is carried to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Ringo Chiu/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
The Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, D.C., tracks personnel problems at law enforcement agencies across the country.
“What you see in Los Angeles is seen across the country,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the forum. “Its a big problem”.
Wexler said Tuesday that fewer young people want to work in law enforcement and that current police officers are retiring and resigning faster than they can be replaced.
The result is more overtime for officers and deputies currently on the job.
Start your day with everything you need to know
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
“And what we’re finding is that increased overtime, for some officers, contributes to them leaving their jobs,” Wexler said. “It’s a generational thing. “Younger agents would rather have more free time than overtime.”
Prosecutors have not outlined the motive for the criminal case or said whether Clinkunbroomer and Cataneo Salazar previously knew each other.
Authorities said the officer was a “target,” but did not say whether Cataneo Salazar sought to harm Clinkunbroomer specifically or any member of law enforcement generally.
Cataneo Salazar allegedly followed Clinkunbroomer just before 6 p.m. as he left the Palmdale sheriff’s station, the district attorney’s office said in a September news release.
The officer was “waiting for a red light to go through” when he was shot, Luna said at the time.
Cataneo Salazar was arrested after an hours-long standoff with sheriff’s deputies. He had barricaded himself inside his family’s home in Palmdale.
His mother, Marle Salazar, told the Los Angeles Times that her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenic about five years ago.
He said he was hearing voices in his head, he said, and sometimes claimed he was being followed by cars or people. He attempted suicide twice and was hospitalized at least once, he said.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn