Wife of one of four LASD employees to die by suicide in 24 hours files claim against police department over ‘zombie’ cops struggling with stress due to excessive overtime

The wife of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who committed suicide has filed a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit against “zombie” cops who struggle with stress from excessive overtime.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by attorney Brad Gage on behalf of the family of Deputy Arturo Atilano-Valdez, who shot himself to death at home Nov. 7, leaving behind his wife, Michelle Atilano, and two daughters.

Atilano-Valdez was one of four LASD employees to commit suicide within 24 hours.

Michelle blamed years of working in prisons and mandatory overtime for her late husband’s depression.

“The population is not safe,” she said. KTLA 5. “All you have is a bunch of zombie deputies, zombies who walk around tired, always tired. They’re not even there. How are they going to save lives?

The grieving widow has spoken out, saying she did not receive the support or help she needed from his employers that could have saved his life.

“My daughters cry every night when they go to bed,” she told KTLA 5. “Now it’s just me and my daughters.”

She described the night her husband died and she and her daughters were in their bedrooms when they heard a “single bang” that sounded like fireworks.

Atilano-Valdez was sitting on the couch when he shot himself.

Michelle remembered that traumatic evening and how she tried to shield her husband’s body from her daughters by throwing a blanket over him.

She said her husband shot himself due to excessive stress due to mandatory overtime work.

“The deputies are working overtime that is literally causing death,” said Brad Gage, Michelle’s attorney.

“Their willful disregard for the safety and rights of employees is part of the lawsuit,” Gage told the publication.

Atilano-Valdez began his career in 2001 and has spent the last 12 years in prison despite requests for transfer, the statement said.

He saw doctors and therapists, but the overtime and “virtual imprisonment” became too harsh, it added.

Sheriff Robert Luna, who took office last December, addressed overtime and other workloads on deputies during a news conference this week, saying it was unacceptable that there had been eight officer suicides in the past year.

As of Nov. 5, the department was short 1,200 sworn deputies and 1,600 professional staff, he said.

“We’re working on a multi-phase plan to reduce mandatory overtime…we have some units that employ eight to 12 people a month,” he said. “This is very concerning to me from an employee health standpoint.”

The number of psychiatrists employed by the department has increased to more than 20, he said.

“We tell people there’s no shame in raising your hand and saying, ‘I need help, I need someone to talk to,’ because our officers see things every day that people shouldn’t see,” the sheriff said. .

He said he believes many health problems are related to untreated PTSD.

A similar $20 million lawsuit was filed last month in the case of Deputy Ryan Clinkanbroomer, who was fatally shot by a gunman while driving a patrol car on Sept. 16. Filing a claim is a mandatory step before filing a claim.

His parents argued that the long hours required left him too tired to be prepared for such threats.

They plan to file a $20 million lawsuit against the sheriff’s department and county leaders.

Investigators said Deputy Ryan Klinkanbroomer, 30, was ambushed Sept. 16 while waiting for a traffic light to change in Palmdale, a city of more than 167,000 people located in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County.

The family accuses the defendants of putting law enforcement officers at risk by forcing them to work overtime because of severe staffing shortages, their lawyer said Tuesday.

The deaths of three current and one former Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department officers by suicide within 24 hours prompted officers to check on the welfare of their colleagues.

Veteran commander Darren Harris was found dead in his Santa Clarita home at 10:30 a.m. Monday. Anonymous sources told the LA Times that Mr. Harris died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The department did not confirm this information.

Authorities then reportedly discovered the body of retired Sergeant Greg Hovland at his Quartz Hill home several hours later at 12:53 p.m., and an unnamed prison official known as a custody assistant was found at a Stevenson Ranch home at 5 p.m.: 40.

The death of the deputy, who worked at the jail, was reported at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The unnamed employee was found unconscious at home and pronounced dead at a hospital in Pomona, California.

Sheriff Robert Luna said in a statement Tuesday that the department was “very saddened to learn of the death.”

“This has sent a shock wave of emotions throughout the chapter as we try to cope with the loss of not one, but four beloved active and retired members of our chapter family.

“In difficult times like these, it is important for employees, regardless of rank or position, to look out for the well-being of other colleagues and friends,” he said.

It is unknown whether the four men knew each other or what connections they may have had.

Research has shown that law enforcement teams with fewer officers are more at risk of death by suicide – finding some put the effectiveness of mental health and peer support programs existing in large teams.

All four deaths are being investigated as deaths by suicide, but the cause of death has not been determined by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, law enforcement sources said, the newspaper reported. NBK.

In 2020, 116 police officers died have committed suicide and 113 people have died in the line of duty, a figure expected to increase to 150 by 2021.

According to a 2022 study, law enforcement officers have a 54 percent higher risk of suicide than the civilian population. found.

While the national suicide rate dropped three percent from 2019 to 2020, according to the CDC, the suicide rate among first responders fell virtually unchanged between 2017 and 2020, the study found.