Sure, sheriffs from Villanueva to Lee Baca to Sherman Block have worn them on special occasions. County deputies over the past 150-plus years - octagon-shaped uniform caps, broad-brimmed chapeaus like the one Canadian Mounties use, helmets, and more - there is no mention whatsoever of Stetsons. While the study goes deep into all the noggin covers used by L.A. Not only that, but Villanueva’s version of his department’s history is wrong.Īccording to “The Evolution of the LASD Male Uniform,” a fascinating paper published last year by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Museum, the first official department uniforms weren’t even formalized until 1932. Horseback patrols are now usually used on city streets for crowd control, not to chase after cattle rustlers, so why even use it except to hark back to the days of frontier justice? It started off by saying “The cowboy hat is part of the rich history of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and has always been authorized headgear for our mounted posse personnel.” (Note the use of the word “posse.”) Instead, the department offered a statement that offered a window into the Villanueva way: When given the choice between facts and grandstanding, he loves to ride into the sunset with the latter. But his spokesperson John Satterfield said the sheriff’s schedule was “extremely full.” Los Angeles isn’t the Wild West anymore.”Ĭalifornia ‘Running against the woke left’: Can Sheriff Villanueva’s shift to the right work in L.A.?Īfter convincing liberal voters he would represent their interests, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has shifted decisively to the right as a reelection bid looms.Īs someone whose father owns multiple types of cowboy hats - simple straw ones, others for daily use, and super-fancy felt Stetsons used only for weddings and funerals - but who couldn’t pull off a cowboy hat if you gave me a Winchester and a lasso, I so wanted to talk hats with Villanueva. “But that’s not how law enforcement should act. “The cowboy hat says, ‘I’m a cowboy, I’ll do what I want,’” said Los Angeles County inspector general and frequent Villanueva critic Max Huntsman. Villanueva’s critics were even less charitable. But the union’s president, James Wheeler, told me in a statement that his group “is surprised to see the Sheriff or frankly anyone devoting time to this topic when rising violent crime, homelessness, and other serious issues plague our community.” for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs had yet to sign off on the move. “It looks pretty good,” he added, before remarking to no one in particular: “You’ll appreciate that.”Ī department spokesperson quickly walked back Villanueva’s assertion, telling my colleague Alene Tchekmedyian that “the project remains in the approval process” and that the Assn. Villanueva said the department had already picked “a winner”: a cream-colored Stetson-style hat that would be available for deputies by the end of the year. In unrelated news, Villanueva also says that deputies are now allowed to wear cowboy hats on duty /dYRiPqJ1CC- Alene Tchekmedyian October 7, 2021 “Are cowboy hats approved by the whole department to wear?” he asked out loud, before raising his eyebrows and looking into the camera. County mandate that requires all public employees to get a COVID-19 vaccine or risk losing their job, the first-term sheriff moved on to a more pressing query. Shortly after stating he wasn’t going to enforce an L.A. 6, during one of his weekly social media question-and-answer sessions. As someone who lost their beloved mother to the damned disease, it ain’t no joke.īut it’s one thing to want to protect yourself from the elements, and quite another to tell your troops they deserve to be able to dress like you. My bemusement tempered after learning Villanueva was a two-time cancer survivor who wanted to protect his face from the sun. Who was he trying to be, I thought - John Wayne? Jason Aldean? Billy Crystal in “City Slickers”? I remember smirking when I saw photos from the scene. But then Villanueva wore the same hat again a day later while strolling around Venice Beach’s homeless encampments. Sporting one makes sense in “Bonanza” country.
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