LA County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission Elects New Leaders

New Chair and Co-Vice Chairs Promise Teamwork, More Tools for Real Accountability

L-R: Co-Vice Chair Arthur Calloway, Chair Hans Johnson, and Co-Vice Chair Luis S. Garcia

The Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission (Commission) unanimously elected Commissioner Hans Johnson to serve as its new Chair. It also reelected Commissioner Luis S. Garcia, Ph.D., and elected Commissioner Arthur Calloway II to serve as Co-Vice Chairs. They will serve through fiscal year (FY) 2025-2026.

Chair Johnson takes over from former Chair Robert C. Bonner, who served on the Commission since its inception in 2017 until his term ended this month after Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger opted not to renew it.

Under Bonner’s leadership in FY 2024-2025, the Commission pursued revisions to its governing ordinance to ensure effective oversight. It issued subpoenas for confidential documents about deputies’ use of force, which the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has challenged in court, and it also filed a resolution in support of Assembly Bill 847, which seeks to enable civilian oversight commissions to access confidential personnel information needed to perform their functions and to go into closed session to review this information.

“Strong oversight is public safety. In serving Angelenos and this Commission, my goals are to strengthen collaboration with the Department and how it seeks and values our input; to secure a new mandate to do our job as a Commission; to shine a light on the hard truths of deputy gangs and eradicate this lasting cancer in the Department; to align the Commission’s committees with our strategic plan; and to share the lessons of our work with oversight commissions throughout California and the United States,” said Chair Johnson, who served as Co-Vice Chair before becoming Chair.

Chair Johnson is president of Progressive Victory, a nationally renowned consultancy on advocacy strategy and good governance practices in the nonprofit sector. He has worked for more than 20 years in more than 20 states with local advocates for nonviolence who track hate crimes and train public safety officers and first responders in LGBTQ awareness, inclusion, and cultural competency. He has worked extensively with foundations, labor unions, congregations, and fair housing and human rights organizations in every U.S. state and D.C.

Co-Vice Chair Garcia works as a senior consultant at Advocates for Human Potential, a behavioral health consulting firm. He is also a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Sentir Psychotherapy, where he provides private-practice psychotherapy. His career spans the public, nonprofit, and private sectors. He holds a steadfast commitment to addressing societal issues through a person-centered approach, including behavioral health access and the complex clinical needs of justice-involved populations.

“I remain committed to strengthening transparency and accountability, deepening community trust, and building bridges between the community and the LASD,” said Co-Vice Chair Garcia, who is on his second term.

Co-Vice Chair Calloway is the newest member of the Commission, having been appointed by the Board of Supervisors in September 2024. He is the first Commissioner to be based in the Antelope Valley. An Air Force veteran, he is an advocate for racial justice and domestic violence prevention; a configuration management lead at a major defense contractor; and the chair of the Antelope Valley Black Chamber of Commerce. He launched two organizations to inform and inspire civic engagement in northern Los Angeles County, where he believes that voter participation has lagged and representation has not reflected the population’s increasing diversity.

“My goal is to eliminate the need for my position,” Co-Vice Chair Calloway said in response to his election. “We should not need to have oversight. We should only have organizations that hold themselves accountable.”

The Commission, which elects its leaders near the start of each fiscal year, was created by the Board of Supervisors in 2016 to provide independent oversight of the LASD; to investigate and provide ongoing analysis of its policies, practices, and procedures; to create robust opportunities for community engagement; and to make recommendations to the Board, the Sheriff, and the public. The Commission’s work helps improve LASD’s transparency and accountability to LA County residents and improve the public’s trust in the LASD.