ICYMI: Representative Tran Urges LA County Leaders to Prioritize Public Safety, Reach Fair Agreement for Sheriff’s Deputies
Los Angeles, California – In case you missed it, U.S. Representatives Derek Tran (CA-45) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) sent a letter encouraging LA County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna, and Association of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) President Robert Pippin to swiftly reach a fair contract agreement between the LA Sheriff’s Deputies and LA County leadership. Negotiations for the 2025-2028 contract period have been ongoing since late 2024, and officers have been working without a finalized contract since January 31, 2025. A finalized law enforcement contract is essential for public safety, particularly ahead of several high-profile international events being hosted in Los Angeles between 2026 and 2028.
WATCH REPRESENTATIVE TRAN ON SPECTRUM NEWS
Improvements to officer recruitment and retention in the LASD are essential ahead of several large-scale events taking place in Southern California over the next few years, including the NBA All-Star Weekend and FIFA World Cup in 2026, Super Bowl LXI in 2027, and the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2028. Currently, about 1,700 LASD deputy positions are vacant, representing about a quarter of the department’s total authorized positions. Finalizing a fair labor contract is critical to provide all parties much much-needed certainty about Los Angeles County’s law enforcement infrastructure and preparedness ahead of large-scale events that will draw millions of visitors to Southern California.
A full transcript of Representative Tran’s Spectrum interview is below:
Host: Now, two members of Congress from the Los Angeles area are getting involved. Representatives Derek Tran and Sydney Kamlager-Dove have written a letter to Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis, the ALADS, and County Sheriff Robert Luna to urge them to come to an agreement.
Representative Tran: We have some really big events coming to our great city that’s going to yield a lot of small business operations, that’s going to be able to make money. But at the same time, we’ve got to take public safety very seriously.
Host: Some of those events include the NBA All-Star Weekend and FIFA World Cup this year, Super Bowl 61 next year, and the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2028, which will bring millions of tourists to the greater Los Angeles Area. According to Tran and Kamlager-Dove, the department is operating at its lowest sworn staffing levels in decades.
Representative Tran: They have over 1,500 positions that are left open. That's huge. The fact that we cannot hire, retain, these very important public safety officials is something that my community wants me to take action on. We have one of the largest police forces out there that's working without a contract. That is scary for me.
On January 8, 2026, Representative Tran voted to pass a bipartisan government spending bill that included his effort to bring over $1 million to Orange County to strengthen public safety efforts. The federal dollars, awarded to the HOPE Center of Orange County, will facilitate first response by licensed social workers to non-violent crises, increasing law enforcement officers’ capacity to prevent violent crime and hold offenders accountable.
As a Co-Chair of the Democratic Caucus National Security Task Force and a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Tran has also signed onto multiple letters expressing support for local public safety efforts, including letters opposing the unjust deployment of federal forces to patrol U.S. cities and advocating for increased resources for state and local law enforcement agencies to perform their duties safely and effectively.
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Congressman Derek Tran represents California’s 45th Congressional District. Serving his first term in Congress, Congressman Tran is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and House Small Business Committee, where he is Ranking Member of the Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations Subcommittee. Congressman Tran is the son of Vietnamese refugees, a Veteran, and fought for consumers as an attorney before entering Congress.