Los Angeles Sheriff's Department has internal gangs, a long-running problem exacerbated by decades of mindless political and media support for law enforcement. The gangs are violent, criminal and undermine the department, yet have been tolerated and even cultivated by its leadership. After multiple media exposes and massive financial settlements paid to people targeted by the gangs, political leaders are finally trying to reign in their own law enforcers.
The demand came Friday in a letter sent by county Inspector General Max Huntsman to 35 deputies suspected of being members of either the Executioners, which operates out of the Compton station, or the Banditos, which operates out of the East L.A. station.The names of the deputies have not been released to the public, but Huntsman said they were a subset of the 41 deputies he identified as suspected gang members last year. "The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department conducted incomplete internal affairs investigations into the Banditos and Executioners, failing to identify all members," Huntsman told The Times this week. "California's new gang law addresses discrimination based on race and gender and gives inspectors general enhanced authority to collect evidence. We're using that authority to complete the investigations by directing deputies to show their tattoos and tell us who else has them."
