Sheriff to Reduce Deputy Minimums, Hire Noncitizens
Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block today said he will hire noncitizens who have applied for legal residency.
The sheriff’s aggressive recruitment campaign also calls for dropping the required age for deputies from 21 to 20, streamlining the hiring process to 90 days instead of 10 months, and hiring graduates of state-approved academies other than the sheriff’s academy.
Block said the department is making the changes because it is having trouble finding enough qualified applicants, and hopes to hire 4,000 new deputies in the next five years.
Thirty percent of applicants now are rejected because of illegal drug use, and 60% fail the written examination, which Block said any high school graduate should be able to pass.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
