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 making them work excessive overtime because of severe understaffing. and lawyers announced Tuesday.
Investigators say Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was ambushed Sept. 16 while waiting for a traffic light to change in Palmdale, a city of more than 167,000 in the high desert in northern LA County.
“I don’t want any parent to have to sit through Thanksgiving dinner or the holiday with someone missing, like we did this year,” her deputy mother, Kim Clinkunbroomer, said through tears at a news conference.
“Had he not been tired and weary, he would have responded safely; he will be here today,” said the deputy’s father, Michael Clinkunbroomer.
Clinkunbroomer had worked 69 hours of overtime in the two weeks before the shooting and had worked two shifts the day before, said attorney Brad Gage, who is representing the slain deputy’s parents.
Ryan Clinkunbroomer, 30, was shot and killed in an ambush at a stoplight in Palmdale. ZUMAPRESS.com
Clinkunbroomer was so exhausted from overwork that his senses were dulled and he missed the “signs” of an impending ambush, Gage said.
Prosecutors have charged Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, with one count of murder, plus special circumstances allegations of murdering a peace officer, murder by waiting, murder by firing squad and personal use of a firearm.
Cataneo Salazar has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Kim Clinkunbroomer, mother of Clinkunbroomer, 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 the government’s lawsuit filed Monday that Clinkunbroomer was forced to work up to 100 hours of overtime each month.
Gage accused Sheriff Robert Luna, department officials and county leaders of intentionally endangering the lives of law enforcement officers by enforcing excessive amounts of mandatory overtime.
The lawsuit is a 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 demands before a lawsuit can be filed.
Relatives and peers of Ryan Clinkunbroomer look on during the funeral service for his deputy. AP
Gage said the lawsuit will 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 vowed to make increasing the number of deputies a priority.
“The senseless assassination of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer is the epitome of evil and the Department continues to mourn his death. We have lost a valued member of our Department family who was committed to serving our community,” the department’s statement said. “The Sheriff’s Department remains committed to ensuring the successful prosecution of the individuals responsible for Ryan’s murder. Our thoughts continue to be with the entire Clinkunbroomer family.”
Attorney Bradley Gage, center, and Kim and Mike Clinkunbroomer, parents of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, announced the forerunner of the lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Department at a news conference. AP
Law enforcement officers and the public are at risk because “fatigue from this demanding work schedule impairs deputies’ ability to remain alert and respond effectively in the line of duty,” the suit says.
“Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors knew of the danger to their employees from intentionally forcing overtime, but knowingly did so with complete disregard for the rights and safety of the deputies,” Gage wrote in the lawsuit.
The Board of Supervisors did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the allegations.
“Everybody likes to work overtime, to make a little extra money, but they don’t want to work overtime until they can’t take care of themselves and others,” said Gage, the family’s attorney.
The head of the deputies’ union said limited staffing is an ongoing problem in Los Angeles, but did not answer specific questions about the average overtime worked by its members.
“The department’s staffing crisis is pushing our deputies to, and unfortunately sometimes exceeding, their limits. We need elected officials to take a more aggressive and smart approach to addressing the department’s inability to recruit and retain qualified people,” said Rich Pippin, president of the Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs Association, in a statement. “Failure to do so can only result in more tragic outcomes, not only for our sheriff’s deputies, but for the millions of people who depend on them for protection.”
The casket of Los Angeles deputy sheriff Ryan Clinkunbroomer was taken to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Image Ringo Chiu/SOPA/Shutterstock
The Police Executive Research Forum in Washington, DC, tracks staffing problems at law enforcement agencies across the country.
“What you see in LA, you see all over the country,” said Chuck Wexler, the forum’s executive director. “It’s a big issue.”
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 overtime for officers and deputies on duty.
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“And what you find is that increased overtime, for some officers, contributes to them leaving their jobs,” Wexler said. “It’s a hereditary thing. Younger officers would rather have more free time than overtime.”
Prosecutors did not specify a motive in the criminal case or say whether Clinkunbroomer and Cataneo Salazar previously knew each other.
Authorities said the deputy was “targeted” but would not say whether Cataneo Salazar was trying to harm Clinkunbroomer specifically or any member of law enforcement in general.
Cataneo Salazar allegedly followed Clinkunbroomer shortly before 6 p.m. as he left the sheriff’s Palmdale Station, the district attorney’s office said in a September news release.
The deputy was “waiting for the red light to turn” when he was shot, Luna said at the time.
Cataneo Salazar was arrested after an hour-long standoff with sheriff’s deputies. He had locked himself inside his family’s Palmdale home.
His mother, Marle Salazar, told the Los Angeles Times her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about five years ago.
He would say he heard voices in his head, he said, and sometimes claimed that cars or people were following him. He twice tried to kill himself and had been hospitalized at least once, he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
