Our Voice, Heard Statewide: New Op-Ed Calls Out Settlement Failures

Brothers and Sisters,

This week, Local 685 President Curtis Chambers, alongside Supervising Deputy Probation Officers’ Union President Reggie Torres, took our fight directly to a statewide audience with a published op-ed in CalMatters addressing the County’s $4 billion sexual abuse settlement. Click here to read.

This was not just commentary. It was a continuation of the formal action union leadership took in our March 26 letter to state leaders (click here), where we warned that the settlement was being advanced without proper oversight, without meaningful vetting of claims, and without due process protections for probation officers. 

The op-ed reinforces and elevates those same concerns:

• Officers were denied basic due process before being publicly implicated

• Billions in taxpayer dollars were committed without rigorous, independent review

• Serious questions remain about the validity of claims included in the settlement

• The broader system failures that led to this moment cannot be ignored

What we raised in our letter is now being discussed across California.

This matters for every member.

As we stated in our letter, the consequences of this process have been real and damaging. Dedicated probation officers have had their reputations put at risk without the opportunity to review or respond to allegations. 

At the same time, the underlying issues we’ve been raising for years, chronic understaffing, weakened oversight, and failed policy decisions, have created the conditions for exactly this kind of breakdown.

The op-ed makes clear that this is not just about one settlement. It is about accountability, fairness, and the future of our profession.

We are not sitting back.

Your union leadership has already called for:

• A full forensic audit of the settlement process

• Legislative oversight hearings

• Immediate action on the staffing crisis

• Real due process protections for our members

Click here to read letter.

And now, that message is reaching a much broader audience.

We will continue to push forward, aggressively and unapologetically, to protect members and restore integrity to this system.

In solidarity,

AFSCME Local 685