Hey, what's up? It's Gustavo Riano, and today we've got a special bonus episode for you.

Not from us, though. Because even though we did an episode on the sheriff's race in Los Angeles

County just a few weeks ago, the story with the incumbent Alex Villanueva never ends. It's enough

for a podcast series, actually. And that's exactly what longtime KPCC reporter Frank Stoltz has done.

In a new podcast series for KPCC and LAS studios,

Frank gets into the story of one of the most divisive elected officials to hit L.A. in decades.

In the process, he shows how law enforcement has evolved over the past 30 years and how it hasn't.

Thank you. how law enforcement has evolved over the past 30 years and how it hasn't. Frank, welcome to the Times.

Thank you, Gustavo.

Sheriff Villanueva, man, you and I and our respective publications have published a lot on him.

So why do a five-part series on Villanueva? Well, he's a fascinating character. I mean, he's really had this unlikely rise to power.

He joined the department way back in the 1980s. And right off the bat, he does this crazy thing.

As a rookie in the jails. He proposes a smoking ban.

This is right after the Surgeon General determined secondhand smoke to be a health hazard.

And, you know, his commander said, no way. That's crazy. But he pushes it through.

Later, a couple years later, he runs for sheriff. He's seven or eight years on the job.

He starts his own labor

union because he doesn't like the powerful A-lads, a deputy's union and the way they do business.

But he has a hard time getting promoted, and he lectures his superiors about that, says they're morally

bankrupt. And in fact, they were. You know, the lieutenant's exam that he had taken

was rigged so that the favored candidates could get in. So, you know, in some ways, he's righteous

in his march through the department. But as you've reported, you know, he has this sort of chip

...