The Current Report

Last year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department suffered one of the darkest days in its history when Detectives Joshua Kelley Ecklund, Victor Lemus, and William Osborn were killed in a catastrophic explosion at the Biscailuz Center. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that the evidence shows these detectives weren’t killed by bad luck. They were killed in an explosion that state investigators concluded was preventable.

PART TWO An audit by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) covering multi-year international deployments revealed severe administrative vulnerabilities and questionable accountability within the LAPD’s foreign travel cohort. The department could not systematically verify whether all authorized employees completed their scheduled international travel, with at least one officially logged trip confirmed to have never occurred.

Part I: Critical event planning trips or Taxpayer funded Vacations abroad?

One year after three Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives were killed in the deadliest incident in the agency’s history since 1857, the investigation is revealing a far more troubling picture than the public was initially led to believe. The aftermath of the tragic accident has devolved into a sprawling cover-up designed to protect the image of Sheriff Robert Luna as he seeks re-election.

THE 13 MANDATES, COMMUNITY COLLAPSE, AND THE TRUE COST OF COVER-UPS The course of administrative accountability shifted temporarily in April 2022, when I officially assumed oversight of the Office of Special Operations.

THE 10TH FLOOR SHIELD, TAXPAYER MILLIONS, AND THE ILLUSION OF REFORM What was supposed to be a routine bomb squad detonation on 27th Street turned into a neighborhood catastrophe. The LAPD assured the public they had everything under control—until a massive, miscalculated explosion tore through a South L.A. block, shattering homes and trust alike. But the blast itself was only the beginning.

PART I: THE 16-TON BLINDSPOT AND THE LEVELING OF 27TH STREET People frequently ask why I choose now to step forward and systematically peel back the corporate, tightly managed layers of police headquarters. The answer is rooted in an unyielding, foundational principle of public service that you carry for life once it is forged.

To understand why so many Americans have lost confidence in the federal justice system, look no further than the StarClub fraud case. On its face, the case appears straightforward. Bernhard Eugen Fritsch, the founder of StarClub, was convicted in federal court and sentenced to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that funded an extravagant lifestyle. Yet today, Fritsch remains in Germany, beyond the reach of the sentence imposed by a U.S. court.

With a City Council that consistently struggles to manage its own internal ethics trying to dictate the management of others, Los Angeles finds itself at a volatile governance crossroads. One of the most persistent concerns and dangerous legacies of former LAPD Chief Michel Moore was the perceived ability to weaponize the Internal Affairs division tool that critics argue has historically enabled instances of institutional abuse.

As first reported by The Current Report, a powerful blast rocked the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Center on June 5, rattling buildings – and nerves – across the complex. Thankfully, this time, no one was killed. The incident, however, has immediately reignited questions about safety, supervision, and leadership inside one of the Sheriff’s Department’s most dangerous specialized units.