Biography

Community and Family
My name is Bob Lindsey and I am a lifelong resident of Los Angeles County. I was born in Downtown Los Angeles, at the historic Queen of Angels Hospital in November, 1955. I was raised in a home with a family of five. My parents taught us the value of Church, family, and community. My wife Kathy and I have been married for 38 years and we have three children. Kathy and I love spending time with our four grandchildren. I have coached top 10 nationally ranked girls’ softball teams and in addition I also coached my son’s Pony League Baseball National championship team. I played minor league baseball for the “Los Angeles Angels” prior joining the LASD. I love the community. I fight for the underdog, and I believe America is where immigrants can flourish and be safe.

Work History

During my High School years, I worked at a large Department Store where I became a member of the local union, and then the Teamsters Union. In my early twenties, I attained a real estate license and an insurance license. In 1978, I was hired by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department-LASD.

I worked with pride for the next 32 years in the finest Sheriff’s Department in the world, serving in 24 different assignments, including four Custody Facilities (HOJJ, Biscailuz Center, Men’s Central Jail, Century Regional Detention), four Patrol Stations (Temple City, Firestone, Pico Rivera, Carson), and every Los Angeles County Superior Court as a manager and executive. Other assignments, have included under cover surveillance, Captain of Personnel/Human Resources, Advanced Officer Training, Recruit Training, and Backgrounds and Recruitment. I worked Central Operations for Internal Criminal Investigations, and Internal Affairs, Gang Enforcement Bureau, Field Operations Headquarters for West Division, Field Training Officer Command Central Operations, and Bureau of Compliance which oversaw litigation, promotional testing and Federal mandates. Working specialized units took me to patrol stations throughout the county, giving me a first hand exposure to different community needs and varied demographics.

Accomplishments

My formula for success: I build, I initiate, I improve, and I create success through obtaining the willing cooperation of subordinate personnel. I surround myself with people that are smarter than me, so that I can learn and grow from their experiences. I encourage controversial discussion and do not subscribe to “yes people”, just the truth. I was the Director of Personnel for the entire Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for nearly 5 years. At the time of my service as director, there were approximately 16,000 employees in the department. I understand how the department functions from inside and out. In my capacity as director, I was in charge of hiring, testing for promotions, reviewing terminations, and many other Human Resources disciplines. Today the Department is imploding with vacant positions and injured department personnel. I led the Department’s Personnel Bureau on both fronts, hiring more than a thousand Deputies in successive years, bringing the Department to full complement. I brought hundreds of injured employees back to work and placed them in vital functions, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

I created, with the assistance of others, the finest Field Training Officer Unit in the country, and our training practices and protocols are still the standard 20 years later. I built an entire jail(CRDF) from dirt to full capacity. I originated, with then Chief Callas, the Office of Professional and Ethical Standards which today, needs to be re-discovered. There are multiple other accomplishments that made lasting differences, but most all, it was people, mentoring, training and assisting others through life’s troubles that means the most to me today.

Current Position

I retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2011 as a Commander of Court Services. Since my retirement I have been an advisor to a major governmental institution in Los Angeles County.

Into the Future

I have seen the recent changes by the current Sheriff as change for the sake of a personal and political headline. It is apparent that the current vision and direction put into place by Sheriff McDonnell does not solve nor address the many complex problems of an organization reeling from recent struggles, nor does it positively effect the plights of the county’s local community. The disregard for the citizens of Los Angeles County and the men and women of the Los Angeles county Sheriff’s Department that risk their lives on a daily basis is obvious and recognizable as a failure to lead. There is no question that the morale of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at it’s lowest historic point. Morale was so low, the Sheriff requested the fact be held in abeyance from the press as it didn’t fit the reformer’s narrative.

In this time of complex law enforcement issues, the community deserves transparency, can handle truth, and doesn’t need a politically motivated solution packaged to mislead the residents of the county. A speech claiming reform is nothing without the accompanying proof that the measures taken were wise, the results fair and the solutions fruitful.

The community needs a Sheriff with a mindset to lead the Sheriff’s Department in a manner that builds trust, confidence and that creates a will to perform because performance really matters. An environment needs to be established where Deputies desire to come to work and embrace the community in the same manner that they are embraced by management. I will give unending and unparalleled attention to the communities of Los Angeles County and to our beloved sworn and professional staff of the Sheriff’s Department. I will bring back a solid relationship, and morale. I will build a Department not fractured by mistrust in management and I promise to be faithful to the communities we serve and the deputies who serve them.

I will lead to EFFECT POSITIVE CHANGE. My name is Bob Lindsey and I will make Los Angeles County America’s Safest Place