Lieutenant Patrick Libertone

The photo on Pat’s page doesn’t begin to capture the personality of the man it represents. Pat had an easy, yet gregarious laugh when he found something to be amusing, which was actually quite often.

Pat and I were members of LASD Academy Class 216, and we graduated 31 years to the day before Pat’s untimely death. We then worked together at Men’s Central Jail, which at the time housed almost 7,000 inmates who were mostly incarcerated for violent crimes. We transferred, again together, to our first patrol assignment two years later and worked our butts off to successfully complete the field training program. We each eventually transferred to specialized units and lost track of each other for long periods of time.

It’s easy to lose contact with old friends in a department of 8500 sworn deputies that covers such a large geographical area and includes myriad assignments, but our paths crossed occasionally. As always on these occasions, Pat’s warm smile and inviting nature made each meeting joyful and memorable. Friendly greetings, jokes, the exchange of fond memories and good natured ribbings were always in order when Pat encountered a friend, of which I was fortunate to be counted.

I know you are missed terribly by your family, but you are also missed by the guys who ran countless miles with you through the hills of East L.A. in 1983.

In conclusion, we yelled this “Jody” as a class while we ran up and down the hilly streets of East L.A. and it really summed up Pat’s career:

18 weeks of living hell
just work the county jail
but I won’t cry and I won’t moan
cause soon I’ll be at Firestone (a kick ass patrol station back in the day)
well we’ll hook and we’ll book and we’ll do it right
we’ll write reports till the morning light
if I die in a riot zone (ahead of us in 1992)
box me up and ship me home
pin my medals upon my chest and tell my honey I did my best

Well done Pat. You lived the creed and made a difference in the world.

Retired Lieutenant
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department

January 16, 2020