A scathing investigative report published last week claims that former Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s department “at minimum tolerated, if not rewarded” deputy gangs and deputy cliques, which remain at the “highest levels” of America’s second-largest municipal law enforcement agency.
The 70-page report from the Civilian Oversight Commission says deputy cliques, which often devolve into deputy gangs, including the Banditos, Executioners, Regulators, Spartans, Reapers, Rattlesnakes, Cowboys, Vikings, Wayside Whities, 3000 Boys, and 4000 Boys, run many patrol stations in the county, as opposed to the designated sergeants, lieutenants and captains supposed to be in charge.
“Contrary to the statements of the prior sheriff, deputy gangs exist and operate in the department, as they have for the last 50 years. They are a cancer,” Special Counsel Bert Deixler, who led the county watchdog’s investigation, said, according to KABC-TV.
“Many of the people with whom we spoke expressed fears of personal or professional harm, not just for themselves, but often for spouses and children who serve in a department,” he added.
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The report says deputy gangs and cliques have existed within the department for the past 50 years but attempts to eradicate the subgroups have for decades been inadequate or lost continuity.
“The Department currently contains several active groups that have been, and still are, engaged in harmful, dangerous, and often illegal, behavior,” the report says. “Some of these groups have engaged in acts of violence, threatened acts of violence, placed fellow Deputies at risk of physical harm, engaged in acts celebrating officer involved shootings, and created a climate of physical fear and professional retribution to those who would speak publicly about the misconduct of such groups.”
“Most troubling, they create rituals that valorize violence, such…
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