Capt. Holly Perez Steps Down as Head of WeHo Sheriff’s Station, with Lt. Sergio Aloma to Replace Her

Capt. Holly Perez, head of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station for 12 months, is being promoted to a role that will remove her from management of the local station.

Perez’s new role has not yet been announced. She will be replaced by Lt. Sergio Aloma, operations lieutenant at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, who will assume the role of captain.

Perez took over leadership of the West Hollywood Station in February 2016 and began a well-received effort to improve communications between the community and local law-enforcement officers.

Among her efforts was distribution of a weekly report chronicling crimes reported in West Hollywood and participation in a regular “coffee with the captain” at which Mayor Lauren Meister and former Mayor Lindsey Horvath held casual open meetings to take questions from residents. Perez also worked to improve communications with WEHOville, which saw a faster and better response under her leadership.

Perez also has been praised for improving relations with the city’s LGBT community. Perez noted her work on cultural diversity coaching for law enforcement with the Covey Institute , an international coaching firm. “I don’t tolerate any kind of prejudice or mistreatment of any people whatever,” Perez said in an interview with WEHOville when she was named captain of the WeHo station.

Mayor Lauren Meister said she was disappointed to see the city lose Perez. “We lose good ones too quickly, before we’ve been able to accomplish what we set out to accomplish,” Meister said. “But on a personal level I am happy for her. “

Meister said she thought Aloma was a good choice to replace Perez.

“I think Sergio has shown himself to be capable,” she said. “When we were in between captains he was our interim captain.” Meister was referencing Aloma’s appointment as acting captain upon the resignation of Capt. Gary Honigs in October 2015.

Perez has worked in the Sheriff’s Department for three decades. “She has risen through the Sheriff’s ranks serving as an operations lieutenant, a service area lieutenant and a recruit training staff sergeant, and she is an international defensive tactics instructor,” City Manager Paul Arevalo said in announcing last year that she would head the WeHo station.

“She has held a variety of assignments, at other area patrol stations including transit services, custody and, until recently, the parks bureau. Captain Perez spent two years specializing in surveillance and covert investigations, studied counter-terrorism at the FBI and is a graduate of USC’s Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE).”

Aloma is a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and attended Cal State L.A. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2012. Aloma lives in Simi Valley and is known for his skill as a runner. In recent years he has participated in a dozen races, include the San Francisco and Boston marathons, the Santa Monica Classic and the Rock ‘n Roll Los Angeles race. Aloma also has worked as an off-campus coach with the Pioneer cross country team of Simi Valley High School, which his two sons have attended. His work with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has included serving as a transit services officer and conducting searches with a drug-sniffing dog as well as educating students about the dangers of drug possession.