One week before her probation period ended, Mono Sheriff’s Deputy Ingrid Braun was terminated. The 21-year Los Angeles Police Department veteran said Sheriff Ralph Obenberger told her “Looking at the big picture, this is best for my Department.” Braun said when she asked the Sheriff if he would tell her what the big picture is, he said, no.
We called Sheriff Obenberger and asked him what he meant by the big picture and Braun not being best for his Department. He said, “I can’t comment because this has to do with termination of an employee.” Deputy Braun was the only female Deputy and also the only Deputy with a college degree in the Mono Sheriff’s Office. Her husband, also retired LAPD, was working as an extra help deputy as bailiff. He quit when his wife was dismissed. Braun said she realizes Mono County policy allows dismissal of a probationary employee without stating cause.
Ms. Braun said she worked 21 years at LAPD and retired as a Lieutenant. She had worked as a watch commander, head of a gang and narcotics’ unit, an investigator and a supervisor of an Internal Affairs unit, and other tasks. Braun said she left with a good record. Her husband retired after 25 years with LAPD.
The couple retired two years ago and because of their love of Mammoth Lakes and skiing, moved here. The jobs came up, and Braun, who is 45, decided to keep working. Asked how she feels about the dismissal, Braun said, “I feel sad, hurt and confused.” She had been working as a patrol deputy mostly in Southern Mono County.
Former Mono Deputy Matthew Baumann said he personally trained Deputy Braun for about two months last year and “rated her above average and extremely competent on all of her daily performance evaluations.” Baumann also said that Braun is “very well known, respected and liked in the community. She exemplified the role of a resident deputy, and in my opinion,” said Baumann, “her termination represents a severe loss to the citizens of Mono County.”
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It really sounds like the citizens of Mono county have a legitimate concern with there leaders in the Sherrifs department. Not just over the firing of one person but numerous incidents. It sounds like the good people of Mono county need to start a recall effort. The voice of the people is what matters not a dictatorship in law enforcement. If you have credible people in this position you will not have the citizens talking negatively about there roll, but you will see many praising there job well done. People of Mono your voices will be heard!
Brandon,
So where can I find you to sign the recall effort papers?
All I can say after reading these blogs is wow…!!! The tone of the article along with all the comments is that of bashing the Mono County Sheriff Department as a whole… I have to say as an employee of the department it is some very hard reading…
All of you as well as everyone reading this article are the same people that we as a department are here to serve…Everyone on this department WILL give their lives for YOU… we WILL miss birthdays and holidays for YOU…we WILL miss dinners, family events, our children’s school events and sporting events for YOU…we WILL miss tucking our children into bed and seeing them wake up in the morning for YOU… we WILL miss church on Sunday and the opportunity to worship and give praise to our Lord and Saviour… for YOU…!!!
No matter what you write about us…say about us…think about us…or feel about us…we WILL be there for YOU…!!!
You see… I’ve worked for a large agency before…I put a lot of years into the southern California ways of Law Enforcement … I have dealt with Gang violence on a daily bases… I’ve dealt with the murders… the home invasions… the hostage situations… the carjackings… kidnappings… rapes… sexual predators… shootings… stabbings… burglaries… armed robberies… vandalisms… the drug dealers and users… the suicidal persons… the stolen vehicles and other property…. I have been in many vehicle and foot pursuits… I did all of that with some of the best men and women in Law Enforcement… Men and Women with great moral and ethical values… men and women of honor and of pride…people that I would to this day give my own life and people that have at times saved mine…
I write all of this to tell you… to assure you… that I feel the same way about the men and women of the Mono County Sheriff’s Department… I am very fortunate and privileged to work with these men and women… They are all dedicated to each other… to this department… to the citizens of this county… to the state of California and to the oath that every Law Enforcement officer swears to up hold…
Are we perfect…? No…! If we were perfect our Lord would not have sent his one and only son to save us all…! (John 3:16)… We are human…just like all of you…the difference is we have a job that isn’t always popular… decisions are made by us that aren’t always popular… actions are carried out that are not always popular… however… not popular doesn’t make them wrong…it doesn’t mean there’s corruption…it doesn’t mean we are incompetent…it simple means that everyone has their own opinion…
I can tell you from experience that limited information on issues/decisions can and most of the time do lead to unpopular opinions…Let’s face it…our imaginations and emotions at times get the better of us… I’m sure that each one of us can look at our own lives and think of an issue when we were quick to judge but later found out there was much more to the story, that lead us to change our opinion on that issue… Law Enforcement agencies base their decisions in accordance with the law and at times the police officers bill of rights…
Ralph Obenberger and Robert Weber are good and caring people…they want what’s best for our county and for the men and women of the Mono County Sheriff’s department… They are very competent leaders with years of experience…They have 100’s of years of combined experience within the ranks of MCSD to pull from… and they do…!! This current administration will be one of the best this county has seen in years… Positive and progressive changes started the day Sheriff Obenberger took over… If didn’t think this to be true, I wouldn’t be typing this now and I would be moving on to another department…
Ladies and Gentlemen…there is no corruption in our department…the good old boys
club left here years ago… and although you and I may not agree with some of the decisions that have come out of this department…I tell you truly we the people may not have all the information nor do we need it…
I’m not an admin guy… I’m not a “ride the admins leg” kind of guy… I believe that if there is an issue with something or someone…. address it… fix it…learn from it…and move on… I’ve been out spoken on this department at times and I have had my share of talks with admin…both good and not so much…
In closing ….I’m asking you the community for some support for our department…all of our department…we all need to support each other… Please ask questions…the rumor mill is a cancer in our county… we may not be able to answer all the questions but it won’t be rumor …
And last… pray… pray for us…all of us…for those you like as well for those you don’t…pray for our community leaders… pray in good times and in bad… Matthew 21:21-22 “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
I will be praying for all of you
God Bless…
Leo – I hope you didn’t write all that on the publics time.
Spare me the YOU comments. It’s YOUR job. Show up when needed or will find someone who will.
Thanks for your service. I’ve been wondering about this string myself. From time to time I’ve been a critic of the police, but these comments mostly seem like a great deal of spleen venting and score settling.
Lest you get too down: I like a lot of the regular posters on this site and agree with many of them, but I’ve also noticed that the blog posts are not necessarily representative, and I can prove that. Every story on the Inyo D.A. (whom I don’t know and don’t care one way or another if I ever meet) gets 20 critical comments for every positive one, if there even is a single positive one – yet the guy keeps getting reelected. Not by my vote, but the point is, this blog is not necessarily a representative sample of eastern Sierra opinion for every topic that comes up.
I won’t defend MCSD because I don’t know enough about it to do so. But I’m pretty sure that most of the crew are good people, because most of the crew of any organization in America are good people, yet all anyone cares to talk about are the rest. That’s really too bad, but it’s the modern way. Just look at the venom on this site over topics from religion to politics to local governance. We live in paradise and some of us apparently are hating every minute of it because it fails our standard of perfection.
Good points Tourbillon.
Amen LEO .. good points. I do believe there are good people in law enforcement, because I know some who are. I know some who are not as well. I support the good ones in any department. And consider the source of some who hate for what ever reason, but know there are some who support YOU.
Please don’t let what you read here in this blog make you upset. I think that nearly everybody in Mono County respect our first responders and know that they are not only dedicated to the public safety, but crucial to the health and wellbeing of everybody — even those, who in their immaturity and ignorance would insult you and the work you do. Those people do not represent anybody but their own silly and childish opinions which, for some reason, they feel the need to share.
This blog is a playground for people with nothing better to do but sneer at the World to compensate for their own feelings of powerlessness and inadequacy.
Keep doing the fine and difficult job you and your comrades do every day.
Thank you for your service.
Leo, the words of other deputies (who aren’t afraid to use their real names) say different.
As far as “the men and women of our dept.”…you don’t HAVE any women (deputies)
And if you consider the demeaning treatment brought up by the retired Sgt.and Deputy Madrid acceptable, it proves that you ARE in the Admin.’s pocket. The majority of the negative comments here are aimed at the upper management of Obie & Weber, NOT the department itself. I guess that you haven’t had to endure “the gauntlet”, YET. And as for the “rumor mill being a cancer of the county”…more often than not, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
You folks with all your anger and tension are missing the big picture surrounding Ms Braun”s release. It’s not about HER, its about the position she would take. And by the way a probe can be released for most anything and she knows it. Now for the facts, deputy Jon Madrid was reinstated the last few days which means the Sheriff’s department lost a position which means one of the last three good old boys hired from Mammoth PD have to be cut for Madrid to come back. But wait, if the MCSO got rid of a probe then none of Mammoth’s finest would have to go? The system is at work, Madrid used it, the good old boys from Mammoth used it and now the Sheriff used it? Does Ms Braun really want to work for MCSO? Does Madrid really want to work for people who dislike him so much they would make him stand in a corner on a time out? There’s good ones and bad ones out there folks, just hope your nex contact with a deputy is with one of the good ones. In the words of that great American ( deceased) “Can’t we all just get along?” If you ran for Sheriff Ms Braun I don’t think I would vote for you, never cared much for LAPD tactics. Love All
Good one Hawggie
Ralphie-O may have just bought himself a new deputy (Ms. Braun).
The law gives public entities great leeway in in firing probationary employees – the termination can be for almost any (or no) reason – but it does not allow a public entity to fire a probationary employee for a discriminatory reason.
Here, the County fired a highly-qualified woman during her probation; since women are a semi “suspect class” of persons protected by the 14th amendment, Ms. Braun’s termination, even though occuring during probation is presumptively suspect.
If the County now hires an equally- or less-qualified male deputy for the position for which Ms. Braun was being considered, it will have revealed the discriminatory reason for terminating Ms. Braun, which the law will accordingly view with disfavor.
So, given this legal check-mate into which the Sheriff has placed himself, my advice is that the County cut its losses, admit its mistake, and hire Ms. Braun as a deputy asap.
Of course, the County employs at public expense one of the largest law firms in the region – the County Counsel’s office – four full-time attorneys making well over $100k and benefits (larger Inyo County gets by with three) – and I know those folks will again mount a vigorous defense of Mono County’s continuing shenanigans.
Not to defend anyone but to point out a flaw sparrow … If the county now hires a male deputy after letting her go .. may only appear to be discriminatory. It can not be proved they did .,.. and appearance is not a damning evidence.
Unless a good lawyer who is good at twisting evidence and facts could stand a chance at pulling that off.
No one would even say a word if it was a female deputy they hired, foul will be called otherwise.
Well….according to the article, the Sheriff’s sole reason for terminating the admittedly-qualified Ms. Braun was that she didn’t fit into his “big picture” of the Sheriff’s Department.
If the Sheriff now hires a male deputy in her place, his words will be combined with his actions to reveal that his “big picture” of the Department does not include female deputies.
Such a policy is clearly in violation of federal anti-discrmination laws; and a federal district court jury in Sacramento would likely so find.
I’m merely pointing out the legal and financial hazards presented by the Sheriff’s words and (likely) actions and suggesting a way to minimize, if not avoid, them.
I get what you’re saying and you are probably right from what i see in all of this … but really on the surface it is not fishy, but below water, it is loaded with fish!
I will say it again here as I did from the Madrid post. These two dingbats (OB/Weber) are newly appointed to their positions and also in probationary status. It is quite evident they are not fit to hold thier office and its at the peril of the Mono County taxpayers when these multi-million dollar federal law suits start to roll in. WAKE UP! Strip them of their rank and put in place a realistic administration that is the best for the people they are supposed to serve.
Leon, the Sheriff was appointed to an elected position – there is no probation…
There is always 2 sides to a story. It’s unfortunate that California law ( Government Code Section 3300) prevents Sheriff Obenberger from disclosing the department’s side. I’m sure it might change some of the arm chair quarterbacks comments on this issue.
The law dosn’t prevent Obenberger from telling Braun why he fired her!!
Why dosn’t Obenberger just be honest with her and lay out the reasons so she can respond?
Cowardly Sheriff, afraid of an intelligent educated woman?
I’ve been wondering how Dan Paranick was able to become Executive Director of the California State Sheriffs Association. That is a powerful lobbying organization. Apparently he was asked by the Association. I’m wondering what qualifications he could possibly have. Having been Sheriff of Mono County doesn’t seem adequate. Maybe he was placed there by Buck Mckeon. Does anyone out there have any knowledge about this?
It was a temporary position that came up suddenly. Paranick went over to fill in after he retired until they could find someone competent. He was in the right place at the right time. The Sheriff’s Association is the ultimate Good Old Boys Club.
One side of me wants to think that the Sheriff canned her because she was more qualified than he was. But another side of me thinks the Sheriff might be worried about the tendency of LAPD officers to shoot first and ask questions, or more like whitewash what happened, later. The debacle of two innocent ladies shot by trigger happy LAPD cops in Torrance and the provably false claims that the did not intend to burn down the cabin that Chris Dorner was holed up in (so much for protecting the innocent, I am sure glad that wasn’t my place the cops burned down so callously) might have given the Sheriff some second thoughts about keeping any LAPD veteran on their force. I grew up under the LAPDs seeming occupation of LA. The critics here might want to breathe a sigh of relief instead of complaining. You emphatically do not want anyone trained and socialized (maybe I should call it anti-socialized) by LAPD up here. Keep them all south of the San Gabriels.
Desert Tortoise – wow comments like that are insanely stupid. WTF do you know about LAPD, police tactics, or the inner workings of the Mono Co Sheriff? Thank God people smarter than you are handling law enforcement matters and understand the difference in value between human life and a wood cabin. Why don’t you join your friends protesting for Dorner in front of LAPD HQ.
Are you serious? Or are you of the same stereotyping mentality that seems to infest the Mono Co. Sheriff’s Department? Ingrid has a twenty year track record of carrying a gun working in a policing environment way more prone to violence than Mono County.
She underwent a thorough background investigation prior to pinning on a badge in Mono County. If there was any record of her “shooting first and and then asking questions,” I’m sure that would have been in her background package.
It is just this type of laziness, (stereotyping someone) rather than searching for facts that seems to be the norm in the Mono County Sheriff’s Department.
I can’t wait to see how much money this will cost the department. Unfortunately, it will also cost the taxpayers. I would suggest the fine citizens of Mono County pressure the Board of Supervisors to get rid of the appointed, (not elected) Sheriff right now. He is sure to cost you far more than you can imagine.
Stereotyping someone … LOL
LAPD had nothing to do with stand off situation with Dorner, It was the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Dept. Having spent 30 years in law enforcement your post makes me sick.
Wrong. LAPD was involved in the standoff with Dorner. They had pre-positioned what they called “resources in San Bernardino at the old Norton AFB for use when Dorner was located and participated in the seige and burning down of the house. This is from an NBC news report during the seige:
“”Enough is enough,” said Commander Andrew Smith at a 3 p.m. news conference. “It’s time to turn yourself in. Stop the bloodshed. Let this incident be over.”
Smith said the gunman barricaded in the cabin near Highway 38 and Glass Road is likely Dorner. The LAPD dispatched units to the area, but Smith did not provide details regarding the response.”
Consider is was LAPD that requested the media to turn their cameras off and withdraw their news helicopters from the scene.
And what of the two ladies LAPD shot with no warning? Pretty standard stuff if you grew up as I did living in fear of LAPD. LAPD shoots people all the time and white washes the report to protect their officers. Cheif Beck has yet to admit any officer did anything wrong on even one of the over one thousand excessive use of force claims filed against his department. Here is another example of what you can look forward too if you hire LAPD trained cops for this region.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/31/local/la-me-lapd-shooting-20121031
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8808766
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/24/in-los-angeles-questions-of-police-brutality-dog-lapd.html
If you grew up with LAPD none of this is the least bit surprising. And, if you didn’t grow up down there and were anything but very high income you do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about. You don’t want LAPD trained people up here. They are not going to be a credit to the community. Keep that trash south of the San Gabriels.
And by the way, what about those ladies LAPD gunned down in Torrance? Bet no heads roll. So much for protecting the innocent. LAPD protects itself and nobody else.
I’m a person of color born and raised in LA, so I’m very familiar with LA cop mentality, I suffered under it. I know Ingrid both as a professional and on a personal level, she did not have the hard-ass LA cop mentality. Ingrid is model law enforcement professional and real nice human being. Frankly, she’s too good for this Sheriff Dept. So don’t presume just because she came from LAPD that’s the reason she was fired.
Fired for NOT being typical LAPD
I was at a gathering two weeks ago and heard one of the fine Mono County Deputies state that he needed to move out of California and find a good red state to live in. No big deal right. Then he followed that statement up with, “Whenever I see anyone with an Obama bumper sticker on their car on 395, I pull them over and ticket them.”
Great department the Sheriff is running. Why would he want someone fair, experienced and extremely intelligent in his organization. Most would call a Deputy such as Ingrid an asset. Obviously this nutty Sheriff just sees her as a threat to his good old boy club of redneck bigots who hate any non white non male.
Of course what do I know, I only retired with 25 years experience in law enforcement making about twice what this hick Sheriff makes.
What you don’t seem to know Mark, is that while some in the MSO are good ole boys and bigots as you claim the whole department to be by your blanket statement … “Good old boy club of red neck bigots” … there are some who are not, and obviously so, for the fact that some have been fired from the SO because they did not play that game homie.
There are some some very good and honest Deputy Sheriff’s and Public Safety Officers at the Mono County Sheriff’s Department. The problem with MCSD is the lack of competent leadership. Deputies with high ethical and moral standards do not get promoted at MCSD. That is why so many good deputies, and at least one good sergeant have left the department.
The last three administartions value blind loyalty above anything else. Their number one goal is to preserve the illusion of administartive competence. Service to the public is not on their radar.
These guys are bullies. They are used to getting their way no matter what they do. Is this the kind of policing we want in Mono County? The County Supervisors must demand an investigation before it is too late. There are so many ways this shows itself to be wrong. When the Sheriff shoots from the hip like this we are all in trouble.
You fire a Deputy that probably has more police experience than everyone on the dept. combined, when she is one week from being off probation….She deserves to be told the BS reason she is being fired….
Dear esfotoguy,
Weber and Obenberger are very experienced? Please do yourself a favor and research the backgrounds on these two individuals. Neither of them have any kind of appreciable law enforcement experience so to speak…..
Deputy Braun on the other hand has more experience then the entire management of the sheriff’s office combined.
They deal with a lot more? you mean the three calls for service per day in the rest of the county? I know, I worked there.
Cleaning house? Are you referring to terminating Braun without giving her justification so you could directly replace her with two lateral hires from M.L.P.D.? One being one of the individuals who was directly involved in the bar fight behind Rusty’s Saloon in Bishop? Way to bolster your ranks with quality!
Lets face it. Braun was a scapegoat. They were intimidated by her experience, education (U.C. Berkeley Alum.), and the fact that she was the only female deputy in a “boys club.” Obenberger messed up. He back filled Deputy Madrid’s position prior to receiving the reinstatement order from the arbitrator. He now had to make room for his hiring of a deputy whom he had no open position for.
Sorry Deputy Braun, you have a week left on probation and you scare me. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
The bottom line, these poor decisions are soon going to hit the citizen’s of Mono County in the wallet, very, very hard…..
Ralph and Weber…dealt w/ a lot more than’the mean streets of June Lake’..They were dealing with north county [including Walker, Bridgeport, both tribal colonies[and the troubles that happen there].Dead people in car crashes ,drug houses,poachers ect. You forget how large Mono county is. They are very experienced. Weber was the coroner..MLPD called MCSD when there was the occasional drug overdose in Mammoth.[mean streets of Mammoth Lakes?] They dont hire dolts for that.. You mean to tell me that the MLPD has more to deal with on its ‘mean streets’. Busting up bar fights and DUI check points, and tasing people for no reason are hardly ‘mean streets’…..Ralph is cleaning house….getting rid of the problems.Get over it.
esfotoguy:
Obenberger is getting rid of the problems? Sounds to me like Braun wasn’t a problem employee; and as there were plenty of guys brought on after her, there must have been a reason for her termination. What everyone is missing here is while she was probationary, she could (and should) file a discrimination lawsuit. Between her, Madrid, and others, the current Sheriff’s administration is facing MULTIPLE federal lawsuits, some already filed. This is going to cost the county (read taxpayers) millions of dollars – if not in judgements, just defending themselves! County counsel is not prepared to function in federal court, which means the county will have to hire out. This is what is being missed in all the comments on these articles – the Sheriff’s admin, above and beyond anything else – is going to start costing the people of Mono County, MMLA style.
Rob – good for you, you fired guys. That’s not the point. The point of these articles is unlawful and federally discriminatory actions by the Sheriff’s department – which WILL affect you when the county has to start paying out out settlements and judgements on this crap, and all county fees and assessments go up. I totally see it coming down the pipe. You can’t have the type of rampant corruption that is constantly discussed and not have it eventually cost the taxpayers.
Esfotoguy, From your own description, they have the qualifications to be Deputy Sheriffs, closely supervised by a competent sergeant. What Law Enforcement Executive supervisory experience does either of them have, other than being trained by the arrogant incompetents Paranick and Scholl? And the band played on!
Mono county’s good old boys club strikes again!!!!
The “new” BOS needs to fix this mess. Obenberger and Weber are not professional or ethical. They are a major liability. FIRE THEM NOW!
I just re-read the story thinking that I’d missed something…I did. Other than the obvious intimidation factor brought on by Ingrid’s superior education and experience, the fact that she was a supervisor in INTERNAL AFFAIRS probably scared the hell out of him.
Yeah good point Big Rick …
Big Rick OBrien – I believe you hit the nail on the head.
I do not know Ingrid Braun but she appears to be a top notch law enforcement professional. I have no doubt in my mind the Sheriff was scared as hell of her. Being a supervisor on Internal affairs she would know exactly how to look into all the accusations surrounding the Mono County Sheriff Department.
It truely is the good ol’ boy club and we should just call the Sheriff Boss Hog.
I hope Ingrid and her husband team up and run for Sheriff in two years!
I’m sick reading about all these cry babies getting FIRED. In my trade, I fire one or two guys a week. NO BIG DEAL and people move on. I hope my employees do start posting on here that they got fired without a reason like it matters. When you are the boss and you dont need a reason!
We always need reasons.
BK
Rob- are you serious? P.S. you are so wrong.
….Sounds like your proud of it….Maybe you should try for a Donald Trump-like reality show….
Your post just shows that you don’t know the difference between a boss and a leader. Anybody can be a boss, but it takes a special person to be a leader. I can tell by your tone that if things took a turn for the worse, you would be the one crying the loudest.
Right on big Kris …. anyone can be a boss .. but not everyone can lead! Said like a boss bro!
You must be a jewel to work for. I’m sure it’s not your fault, but it seems no one ever taught you that in business, your most important asset is your employees.
If you think it’s a good idea to fire someone without ever giving them an improvement discussion or training, please tell me the name of your business so I can avoid it like the plague!
Folks, you are being trolled.
86…I believe that is a NEW record!!!!
I guess she forgot to donate to the good old boys club.
I guess the Sheriff felt a bit nervous that there was someone that is perhaps more qualified than he to do his job. I guess you let them go in order to keep job security alive and well.
Ralphy doesn’t want anyone working for him that’s more qualified than HE is. Apply at MLPD, Ingrid…they NEED you.
Obenberger and Weber view anyone who has more training, experience and education than they have, as a threat.(The list is a long one) Someone with that experience level will be the first to realize that the Sheriff and Undersheriff have no clue what they are doing, and the day they get off probation they can speak freely about it.
Obenberger worked for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for 15 years and was never promoted, nor was he ever entrusted with a special assingment such as investigations, traffic, SEB, Aero, etc. His depth of experience in Mono County is working the mean streents of June Lake. Under Paranick he went from Deputy to Lieutenant in five months then to Undersheriff. This would never happen on a professional department.
Weber’s depth of Law Enforcement experience is all in Mono County working the mean streets of June Lake and being Paranick’s “Boy”.
Obenberger and Weber can keep the illusion of their competence going, only by supervising through fear and intimidation of those under them.