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.”
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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.… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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,… Read more »
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.… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »