“The FBI is investigating a secret society of tattooed deputies in East Los Angeles as well as similar gang-like groups elsewhere within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, multiple people familiar with the inquiry said.”
“The federal probe follows allegations of beatings and harassment by members of the Banditos, a group of deputies assigned to the Sheriff’s Department’s East L.A. station who brand themselves with matching tattoos of a skeleton outfitted with a sombrero, bandolier and pistol. The clique’s members are accused by other deputies of using gang-like tactics to recruit young Latino deputies into their fold and retaliating against those who rebuff them.”
“The agents also have inquired about other groups known to exist in the department, which has nearly 10,000 deputies and polices large swaths of the sprawling county. They have asked for information about the tattoos and practices of the Spartans and Regulators in the department’s Century station, and the Reapers, who operate out of a station in South Los Angeles, according to the sources.”
“The current investigation appears to have been spurred by a group of deputies who in March filed a legal claim against the county accusing Sheriff’s Department officials of failing to address a hostile work environment in the East L.A. station. The deputies say Bandito leaders, who are alleged to control key elements of station operations, put others’ lives at risk by not sending backup to help on dangerous calls, enforced illegal arrest quotas and carried out other forms of harassment.”
“The secretive groups have been entrenched in the department for decades. Defenders say the cliques are harmless fraternities, likening them to close-knit groups in the military. But time and again, the deputy clubs have come under fire for promoting aggressive tactics and an us-versus-everyone mentality.”
“The Times reported last year that a new tattooed club of lawmen surfaced at the Compton station after a deputy there admitted under oath to having ink of a skeleton holding a rifle. The deputy — who was accused of excessive force in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man — said as many as 20 of his colleagues have the same tattoo.”
Read more: FBI investigating tattooed deputy gangs in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (archived)
2021-week26
