LA County sheriff’s deputies are stretched thin, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is on track to spend over $500 million in overtime this year. In the last fiscal year alone, the LA Sheriff’s Department spent $458 million on overtime. With $131 million already spent in just the first three months of 2025, the department is on pace to break its own record. County data shows that more deputies are leaving the force than being hired, due in large part to the plummet in recruitment during the Covid-19 pandemic – a decline that the agency has yet to recover from. There are currently 1,530 unfilled deputy positions, in addition to a significant number of deputies…..