Probe of ‘deputy gangs’ opened by oversight board
LOS ANGELES — A civilian commission that oversees the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department is opening an investigation into “deputy gangs” that have operated for decades. The move represents a major step in efforts to scrutinize deputy cliques that have been linked to allegations of violence and corruption.
The investigation will be conducted by a team of prominent attorneys, including at least six former federal prosecutors and two former federal public defenders, Sean Kennedy, chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, told the Los Angeles Times. The team will be led by Bert Deixler, a former federal prosecutor.
“The sheriff has repeatedly challenged anyone to come up with the evidence of deputy gangs, and our intention is to conduct a completely independent investigation,” said Kennedy, a Loyola Law School professor and former head of the Central District federal public defender’s office.
Kennedy said the lawyers plan to hold public hearings and subpoena witnesses to testify. The goal is to find out in the next six months where the groups operate in the Sheriff ’s Department and what impact they have on policing.
The investigation will assess whether internal policies have been effective in combating the groups and make recommendations on how to root them out of the roughly 18,000member department, which runs the county jails and patrols streets in unincorporated areas and contract cities.
“This issue has been languishing for over 50 years,” said Kennedy, who authored a 2021 report that found that since the 1970s there have been 18 deputy cliques within the Sheriff ’s Department, some of which remain active. “Our intention is to move forward immediately.”
Sheriff Alex Villanueva has downplayed the problems with the groups but has also taken credit for addressing them by instituting a policy that prohibits deputies from joining groups that promote behavior violating the rights of others.