(SUMMIT NEWS) – Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has refused to enforce a local vaccine mandate, saying he would risk losing up to 10 per cent of his workforce if he did.

After his department’s budget was cut by $145.5 million in June 2020, partly as a result of the ‘defund the police’ movement, Villanueva says he already faces losing hundreds of officers. Enforcing COVID vaccine mandates would further cripple the force at a time when homicides have surged 31 per cent in the first six months of 2021 compared to last year.

“This is like the worst of two worlds right here, so we have to pick and choose,” said Villanueva, adding that he would lose 5-10 per cent of his staff “overnight” if he enacted the Los Angeles City Council’s mandate, which was passed on Wednesday.