Kern Law Enforcement Association (KLEA) is advising its member deputies in Kern County to steer clear of Gregory Petersen, an Orange County civil rights and employment attorney.
Petersen submitted a letter to Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood outlining various alleged grievances affecting pay and time off. It is well-documented that Kern County Deputy Sheriffs are working unprecedented hours due to budget cuts and historically low staffing levels. KLEA is losing deputies due to low pay and poor benefits, making it inappropriate for an out-of-town lawyer to extract "fees" from individual deputies.
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Attorney Petersen has a history of frivolous lawsuits that negatively impacted both the taxpayers and the law enforcement officers he claims to represent. See one story here.
"It is the duty of KLEA to protect our members," David Kessler said, president of KLEA. "We do not need questionable individuals coming into Kern County and extracting 'fees' from our deputies who already struggle with lower-than-average paychecks and long work hours to cover for a lack of deputies due to budget cuts."
KLEA urges members to not engage with Mr. Petersen and to call the association office at (661) 392-4430 if they have any questions.
