HOLLYWOOD- The smell of coffee brewing filled the air as I sat down with Brendan Corbett, a retired Assistant Sheriff, at a local Hollywood cafe. Corbett worked for Los Angeles County for over 39 years. Corbett was raised in Whittier, California, and married his high school sweetheart and now shares two children. Corbett always knew he wanted to be in law enforcement. “I loved it, I found it interesting, so I went to the sheriff’s department in 1985. Did the traditional path work, the academy, then went on to the jails,” he said. He had the pleasure of working in multiple departments and understanding the depths of each role. Starting off working inside the jails, he then moved to patrol East LA and was part of theSWAT team for 11 years. “I was able to travel everywhere in Los Angeles on the SWAT team and was exposed to every nook and cranny. Becoming an immigration expert, SB54 dealt with all ICE detainers and had to make sure they complied,” Corbett explained. Corbett had dealt with four shoulder surgeries and was supposed to retire back in 2017, but he was asked to stay by Sheriff Alex Villianueva during the transition of leadership because he knew the ins and outs of how the jail systems worked. He later realized he actually didn’t want to retire and could give it a couple more years. “I realized mentally I wasn’t ready to retire; my son was a freshman in high school, so work four more years, sure I’ll do that,” he said. As years passed and the new sheriff arrived in town, Corbett was replaced. “Sheriff Luna came in and basically got rid of me,” Corbett said. “I never had a conversation with the man and it kind of goes with the territory of that rank but I got a phone call on a Saturday afternoon saying we’re gonna replace the assistant sheriff in custody.”
Now, years later, Corbett is back and ready to run for LA County Sheriff in the upcoming 2026 election year concluding in November. He plans to help reduce crime and provide better services to homeless people who go through jails and struggle with mental health. “My platform for running for sheriff is 99 percent based on community safety,” he said. “Nobody feels safe in the community nowadays.” During his brief retirement, Corbett was in disbelief at how the current department handled things; employees were being overworked, and staffing had decreased, along with a lack of experience from those in positions of leadership. “I was retired and watching this man from the Long Beach police, whose leadership is suspected to begin with, and then his experience is nonexistent with a department the size of ours,” Corbett explained. “He doesn’t know the jails, the courts, or anything. He is a police officer with very limited experience.”. Corbett was saddened to hear about close friends and acquaintances being overworked and even risking their lives. “People are losing their lives left and right. We have had 13 suicides in two years under County Sheriff Robert G Luna’s administration, plus immediate family members that I know. A friend of mine whose son is working patrol right now just finished his third day in a row of 18-hour shifts. They’re exhausted and they’re taking their lives. We had a deputy up north who worked all that and died, got in a car wreck, fell asleep and died,” Corbett said.
Over the past couple of months, community advocates have complained about increases in homelessness, as well as subsequent upticks in drug usage and crime among the unhoused population. Advocates have spoken up about it affecting their business, and they want solutions. “My experience has been horrible, our business is surrounded by homeless people and by drugs and different gangs,” said Rudy, the owner of the cafe in which I met with Corbett. “Our walls get tagged up pretty much every three days. Luckily, the city comes to take care of it and paints over it.”Corbett believes he has the potential to do a better job compared to the current sheriff due to his extensive experience in multiple departments. Corbett believes he is the most qualified candidate to turn things around using his outside-of-the-box thinking.
To crack down on homelessness and crime, there has to be accountability. Corbett has a plan to create a better pipeline from the jails to mental health services by ensuring a warm handoff. When they are released from the jails they will be handed off to a program that is responsible for making sure they receive the mental health services they need. “I plan to start case management the day they come in. I want to focus on the ones who are going to be released the soonest,” Corbett said. “Then, when they get up for release, we are going to do a warm handoff. We will work with organizations that will be responsible for helping the individual get back into society and provide services to them.”
Corbett believes working with organizations whose mission is to help homeless people and those struggling with mental health helps keep everyone accountable. Numerous organizations in LA County have been responsible for providing services to homeless people, but when it comes to seeing where the funds go, it’s crickets. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, lost $1 billion that was supposed to go towards helping homeless people with housing and resources. However, with warm handoffs, Corbett is able to track how specific patients’ cases progress and how funds are spent.
While working inside one of the county jails, Corbett saw firsthand how change can happen with individuals who struggle with mental health. “Inside the jails was a huge shift for me mentally, part of that was because I saw how proper treatment, proper programming, and care can get people well while they are in the jail system,” he said. Corbett examined how effective the Forensic Inpatient Stepdown Program has been. He fought hard to keep the program open at all costs, as it is a peer-led program by inmates that helps new inmates who come in and are suffering from a mental or drug crisis. He noticed how some inmates come in medicated and barely want to come out of their cell, and they have to force them out to get them cleaned up. Within a week, peer leaders were able to get them in a communal setting and work with them to attend classes. “The jail right now is your best resource to get cleaned up and start on a path to treatment,” Corbett said. “Let’s do it right.”
Corbett dealt with many different crises during his time in the jails; he now has knowledge of what does and doesn’t work “The open border policy really hurt us, all of a sudden there was an influx of fentanyl, and they were able to get it inside the jail in so many different ways,” Corbett said. “I would watch videos of people ingesting something and within 30 seconds they’re dead.” As a result, Corbett started putting NARCAN in the housing areas for inmates to use. Corbett faced another unrelated challenge back in August 2020. He was accused of falsifying documents and lying regarding an inmate who has now been released. The inmate claimed he was attacked for no reason and wanted to sue. Corbett claims he was posted on a fake replica of the Brady list, a list where a deputy or officer appears if they ever lie in court and those actions are made public.Corbett was shocked that the site got away with looking identical to the real list. “I don’t know how they got away with that seal and all that stuff,” he said. “That’s actually fake news on the next level. There was an individual who was in our custody, and he went on the news, and he made all these allegations against the deputies, said Corbett. The man in custody was about 6 ‘2 or 6’ 3 and was waist chained in the front according to Corbett and threw an elbow at the officers head as they motioned to open the cell. “The deputy was trying to conduct what they call a take-down, where they take them to the ground and ask for help, but the guy wouldn’t go down, and two or three deputies came in, and as he went down, he grabbed the deputy by the head and slammed his head on the floor.” said Corbett. Corbett went on CBS News back in August of 2020, where he played the video frame by frame to show what happened. Since the incident Corbett has not heard anything from the young man and the investigation has been dropped.
The county has gone through massive changes, including budget cuts, layoffs, and short-staffed departments. Often, these changes have led the community to believe there’s no funding to get anything done.“There has been funding for the board supervisors in LA county in the past few years,” Corbett said. He explained how supervisors “want care in the community” rather than mass incarceration. Corbett wants to tackle mental health and create a new jail that allows the county to focus on getting individuals better and tackle overcrowding of jails. “I believe in a second chance. I believe in helping people out, but I am accountable; I can make a difference to homelessness and the safety of communities.” said Corbett.
Exactly what the citizens of Los Angeles County needs. Someone who knows what he is doing. Hes got my vote!