SANTA BARBARA COUNTY For the second consecutive night, local law enforcement personnel were dispatched to Los Angeles Sunday evening to provide mutual aid during the ongoing protests.
Approximately 52 personnel from various agencies were called upon Saturday night to respond at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department. Armed National Guard soldiers were also called to assist late Saturday and patrolled the streets throughout the day Sunday as the city began cleaning up following clashes with officers, which included several police vehicles being torched and multiple businesses looted, according to authorities.
The group of local personnel were redeployed Sunday, which included members of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, the Santa Barbara Police Department, Lompoc Police Department, Guadalupe Police Department and a police Bearcat vehicle.
In addition, members of the Sheriff’s Office, Santa Maria and Lompoc police were joined by Ventura, Port Hueneme and Oxnard police to assist the San Francisco Police Department.
According to Los Angeles police, an estimated 398 arrests were made Saturday night related to the protest. The charges included burglary, looting, vandalism, failure to disperse, felony gun charges and other curfew violations. Five L.A. officers were injured, including two who were hospitalized. Their injuries ranged from contusions and broken bones to a fractured skull.
After a curfew was called for Saturday night, Los Angeles County declared a countywide curfew from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. today.
While local sheriff’s deputies were on scene Saturday night, residents gave at least two deputies a plastic bag that included a thank you note. The note read, “Thank you for being here. I’m sad ‘you’ are being blamed. (for what bad cops did). You saved our city today, our homes, our lives as we know it. Thank you.”
The local units were provided with cots to sleep in Saturday night before redeploying, the Sheriff’s Office posted to Twitter.
