Watchdog identifies dozens of LA County deputies with alleged ties to gang-like groups

A watchdog group identified 41 deputies within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department who have ties to known law enforcement gangs in California, according to a letter released on Monday.

The Office of the Inspector General in Los Angeles said it determined 11 deputies with the sheriff’s department are associated with the Banditos and 30 members are affiliated with the Executioners. Both organizations are sometimes referred to as “deputy gangs” that operate within the police department.

Inspector General Max Huntsman wrote he was investigating whether the deputies “engage in a pattern of on-duty behavior that intentionally violates the law or fundamental principles of professional policing,” and is seeking more documentation and evidence in the investigation.

The letter to Sheriff Alex Villanueva was first reported on and shared by the Los Angeles Times.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wrote a statement on Facebook calling the inspector general’s claims of deputy gangs “unproven allegations” and part of his “unhealthy obsession to attack the department.”

“This is another irresponsible attempt from Mr. Huntsman to discredit the organization, through omission and misrepresentation,” the department said. “To this date and our knowledge, we have not received any allegations of such.”

Villanueva earlier this month told The Los Angeles Times he has rooted out bad deputies, leading to two terminations and 13 transfers, through implementing a policy barring deputies from joining groups that violate the rights of others.

Global think tank Rand Corporation released a report last September at the request of Los Angeles County, after numerous lawsuits had been filed and media stories proliferated about so-called deputy gang members who have allegedly mistreated the community.

The report identified various “subgroups” and “secret cliques” that formed in the past 40 years within the sheriff department in Los Angeles, and members are known to get tattoos, such as a grim reaper or a skeleton holding a revolver.

Rand found instances of mistreatment and violent incidents, including with the Banditos and Executioners, but said some members join simply as a way to facilitate hard work.

Following the report, the California state legislature passed a law prohibiting officers from joining law enforcement gangs.