The county’s inspector general claimed the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department blocked efforts to investigate misconduct and hold the department accountable in an open letter announcing his retirement Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Max Huntsman has led the Office of Inspector General since it was created in 2013 as a watchdog for the Sheriff’s Department, which has faced accusations of deputy misconduct and excessive use of force.
Under former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who served from 2018 to 2022, Huntsman said the Sheriff’s Department used its power to take on dissenters, including opening an investigation into former County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. After Villanueva was voted out of office, Huntsman said, the Sheriff’s Department wouldn’t give him records related to improper surveillance, stalling his investigation efforts.
“Sometimes members of the public wonder if frightening new surveillance techniques will be used for improper purposes under the guise of criminal investigation,” Huntsman wrote. “Sadly, the answer is, yes.”
“The Department values the Office of Inspector General and all our oversight bodies and continues to make great strides in advancing the Department in a transparent manner,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “We wish Mr. Huntsman and his family well in his retirement.”
Hans Johnson, chair of the Civilian Oversight Commission, said Huntsman worked with the Commission and other county leaders to increase transparency and accountability within the Sheriff’s Department and remedy its history of deputy gangs. His work helped reveal the Sheriff’s Department’s surveillance of journalists and officials, Johnson said.
“Max will inspire people in the community, people in the press, people in public service, including through our Commission and myself, who owe a debt of gratitude to Max for his guidance and the brave efforts he undertook to shine a light in dark places in this county and in law enforcement in this state,” Johnson said.
Huntsman wasn’t the only Sheriff’s Department watchdog to resign in 2025.
Sean Kennedy, a member of the Civilian Oversight Commission since its founding in 2016, resigned in February after he said county attorneys threatened to report him to the court for “misrepresentation” after filing a legal brief in a criminal case. In his resignation letter, Kennedy said county attorneys advised the Sheriff’s Department not to provide requested confidential documents to commissioners that it would need to conduct reviews and make recommendations.
In March, Sheriff Robert Luna sued the Civilian Oversight Commission, asking the court to decide if the Sheriff’s Department should respond to three subpoenas requesting records related to deputy misconduct and use-of-force cases.
“In my twelve years at this work, I have longed for the day that the county would address the conditions in our reports without a court fight,” Huntsman said. “When we first blew the whistle on the torturous chaining of mentally ill prisoners to benches for thirty-six hours at a time, it was only a court order that ended the practice. Time and time again, this pattern repeated itself. Some things never change.”