From June 8 to 11, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office dispatched 33 deputies to Los Angeles as part of a mutual aid agreement to help the LAPD respond to violent protests then taking place in response to the civil deployment of the National Guard and the Marines ordered by President Donald Trump as part of his policy of mass deportations.
“They were not involved in immigration enforcement,” stated Raquel Zick, Public Information Officer for the Sheriff’s Office. “Their role was to protect life and property while protecting the rights of the public to peaceful protest.”
According to Zick, June 9 proved the busiest night as deputies assisted “in maintaining a skirmish line against a violent crowd throwing projectiles, including glass bottles, beer cans, and commercial-grade fireworks.”
On June 10, she stated, deputies chased down and arrested four suspects involved in the looting a small business on the 200 block of West 6th Street.
On June 11, Zick added, someone tried shooting a deputy with a sling shot while the deputy filled his vehicle with gas. The deputy was not hurt, but the suspect was arrested and booked for assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon. That same day, Zick said, Santa Barbara deputies helped defend the LAPD headquarters “from a violent crowd.” As the crowd dispersed, she said, the Santa Barbara deputies found a protester on the ground suffering from “an internal abdominal injury.” They provided aid and transported the patient to a local hospital.
From June 13 to 16, Santa Barbara provided 25 deputies for mutual aid in Los Angeles to protect downtown buildings. This involved no significant incidents or arrests, Zick said.
The overtime costs accrued — including the costs associated with backfilling their vacant slots — will be billed through Cal OES.
