LA Sheriff Rejects Investigation Into 'Deputy Gangs' As A 'Fishing Expedition'

The Sheriff of Los Angeles County has rejected an investigation into whether “deputy gangs” exist within his office after a watchdog identified dozens who identified with gangs.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission (COC) announced that it would be launching an investigation into gangs within the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), the largest sheriff's department in the United States. Prompting the decision to investigate was a report by the Los Angeles Inspector General's Office that said it had identified 41 deputies as members of known law enforcement gangs, including two previously known groups called the Banditos and the Executioners.

But the LASD Sheriff Alex Villaneuva has adamantly refused to acknowledge the existence of gangs within his department. He argues that there have been no facts that point to the existence of gangs within the LASD and accused local officials of engaging in "political theater" by vilifying his deputies.

"I openly challenge every elected leader, or their appointees, to provide facts to me and name individuals who they can prove are “gang members,” as defined by California Penal Code section 13670," Villaneuva wrote in a statement on the LASD Facebook account. "Not one elected official, or their political appointees, have provided me even one name. I await whatever new FACTUAL information they can provide."

But in the letter to Villaneuva from the inspector general, the office said that he "misapprehends" the nature of the office's inquiries and noted that it has not identified officers violating the California law on police gangs. Instead, the office said that it was investigating whether or not this has been the case and that the sheriff was obstructing its task.

“The Sheriff's Department may not refuse to produce the records requested by unilaterally declaring that no deputy sheriff is a member of a 'law enforcement gang'," Max Huntsman, L.A. County Inspector General wrote in a letter to Villaneuva on March 21.

According to California law, a are police officers or deputies who "engage in a patter of on-duty behavior that intentionally violates the law or fundamental principles of professional policing, including but not limited to, exclude, harassing, or discriminating against any individual based on a protected category under federal or state anti-discrimination laws."

The existence of gangs within the LASD has a decades-long history. According to a RAND Corporation report commissioned by L.A. County last September, various "sub-groups" and "secret cliques" have formed in the last 40 years inside the LASD and they often sport tattoos that identify which sect they are a member of.

Deputy gangs have fostered and promoted excessive force against citizens, discriminated against other deputies based on race and gender, and undermined the chain of command and discipline. Despite years of documented history of this issue, the Department has failed to eliminate the gangs,” said Sean Kennedy, commission chair and executive director of Loyola Law School’s Center for Juvenile Law and Policy in a comment to CNN.