4/12/24  A lawsuit against the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. by eight deputies who allege they were mistreated by their agency after clashing with members of the Banditos “deputy gang” has been cleared for trial. Aside from the County, the suit names four former deputies who were in the gang; three were fired and one retired. Another lawsuit, filed by a former deputy, claims that his opposition to the “Regulators” deputy gang led his superior officer, a “tattooed” member of the gang, to unjustly fire him for misconduct. His then-boss is presently the agency’s acting chief of training and personnel.

4/1/24  A scathing report by the L.A. County Inspector General accuses the Sheriff’s Department of failing to act against a newly-uncovered “deputy gang” at the agency’s Industry station. Dubbed the “Industry Indians,” its members sport tattoos depicting native Americans. But Sheriff Robert Luna, who promised to “eradicate” deputy gangs when he took the agency’s reins a year ago, reportedly refuses to cooperate with overseers or furnish information about the group.

3/11/24  During the 1980’s, former L.A. County Undersheriff Tim Murakami served as a deputy at the East Los Angeles station. In testimony he just delivered to the civilian Oversight Commission, he said that’s when he got a tattoo (since removed) depicting “a caveman carrying a club.” But he insisted that the East L.A. station’s “Cavemen”, and the “Executioners, the Banditos, the Regulators and the Little Devils” at other stations, were simply symbols of “station pride.” Indeed, there was no such thing as a rogue “deputy gang.”

2/23/24  “The Regulators” is one of the oldest L.A. Deputy Sheriff “gangs”. Based at the Century station, it’s supposedly not accepting new members. But inspectors from the County’s Oversight Commission noticed a large sticker of “a grinning skeleton in a cowboy hat” in the parking garage of a women’s jail last December. That’s the Regulator’s insignia. And it was still there more than a month later. Why it was there in the first place, and why it wasn’t immediately removed, are now major bones of contention.

1/12/24  L.A. Sheriff’s “Industry” station services the unincorporated area known as the City of Industry. According to Sheriff Robert Luna, who’s already tangled with the “Grim Reapers”, “Banditos” and “Executioners” cliques, it too is beset by a deputy gang. Two of the four deputies he recently fired for allegedly provoking an off-duty brawl bore tattoos they admitted represented the “Industry Indians.” A  supposedly lnowledgeable “source” reports there are “dozens of members.

7/12/23  Ruling that forcing L.A. County deputies to “show their tattoos” and answer questions could violate their rights, a Superior Court judge enjoined the County I.G. from requiring that deputies cooperate with his inquiry into deputy gangs until labor issues are resolved. It’s also not settled whether a new state law that requires agencies to assist in such matters applies to the rank-and-file. For now, the County must bargain with the deputies’ union. After all, the tattoos won't simply disappear.

6/5/23  It took less than a day for a civil jury to decide that L.A. County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Waldie was not denied promotion because he warned about the unholy influence of deputy “gangs,” and particularly the “Executioners” at the Compton station. Problem is, Waldie himself bore the tattoo of another gang, the “Gladiators.” And the evidence didn't strongly support his contention that a work slowdown supposedly prompted by the “Executioners” had in fact taken place.

6/1/23  During trial of a civil lawsuit filed by an L.A. Sheriff’s Lieutenant who claims he was demoted after complaining about the nefarious behavior of a deputy “gang,” Undersheriff April Tardy testified that her prior account to an oversight commission had been incorrect, and that there was no work “slowdown” at the Sheriff’s station where that deputy gang was supposedly in control. Her account, which sharply contradicts the plaintiff’s assertions, backs up testimony by a deputy member of that gang, who insisted that the behavior of its tattooed members was actually benign.

5/31/23  In 2020 L.A. County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Waldie sued his own agency, claiming that he was demoted for objecting to the control that “The Executioners” deputy gang exercised at the Compton station. Trial has been underway for two weeks. A recent witness, Deputy Jaime Juarez, rolled up a pants leg to show his gang tattoo. But he said it was “a positive thing” and denied he had led a slowdown. Meanwhile the defense insists that Waldie was himself a member of a deputy gang, the “Gladiators.”

5/24/23  L.A. County’s Inspector General and L.A. Sheriff Robert Luna recently ordered that three dozen deputy sheriffs who allegedly participated in deputy gangs answer questions and show their tattoos. In response, the deputies’ union filed an objection asserting that these moves violate the collective bargaining process. They are also suing the county for violating the Fourth Amendment's provisions on search and seizure, and the Fifth Amendment's ban of compelled self-incrimination.

5/18/23  Los Angeles County’s Inspector General has issued written orders to “nearly three dozen [Los Angeles County Sheriff’s] deputies” directing them to appear for questioning about deputy gangs. They are also instructed to bring photographs of all leg tattoos “from the ankle to the knee” and of any tattoo on their body that resembles attached images. Deputies may be represented by counsel and may invoke the Fifth Amendment. However, they are advised that will not bring an end to the process. (Note: Sheriff Robert Luna ordered the affected deputies to comply).

3/4/23  Citing a special counsel report that asserts deputy gangs or “cliques” including the “Regulators, Spartans, Gladiators, Cowboys and Reapers” continue to operate in the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the county’s Civilian Oversight Commission urged Sheriff Luna and the Board of Supervisors to formally ban these organizations. According to the commissioners, gang leaders “call the shots” when it’s time for assignments and promotions, and ignoring their wishes can lead to a deputy’s isolation from his peers.

2/16/23  Deputy gangs have beset the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. for years. But there’s a new Sheriff in town. Robert Luna, who won election last year, has pledged to banish these groups, which have been accused of abusing citizens and coercing deputies who don’t join. To do that he just appointed a former Federal prosecutor who will lead an “office of constitutional policing.” One of its primary goals will be to dismantle the gangs and insure they don’t return. Other missions will include ending abusive practices at the county jails and assuring that court-ordered reforms stay on track.

2/9/23  A lawsuit by a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff (23STCV01738, Amayel Garfias v. County of Los Angeles, 1/26/23) alleges that a new deputy gang has been forming in the East Los Angeles station, the former home of the “Banditos.” Deputy Garfias, who is off the job due to a work-related injury, claims that one of its members physically assaulted him when he refused to join, and that his complaints to superiors went ignored.

2/7/23  During the post-Floyd era many specialized police anti-crime teams were disbanded. But violence has led many to return, albeit in “revamped” fashions that supposedly avoid the pitfalls that shut down their predecessors. Denver, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Portland, Aurora and other cities are experimenting with teams whose rules now emphasize that “the rule of law matters” and that officers must not “stop and frisk everything that moves.” Memphis was also on the list, but then came “Scorpion” and Tyre Nichols.

12/5/22  After roundly defeating embattled Sheriff Alex Villanueva in the November election, retired Long Beach, Calif. police chief Robert Luna took office today as Los Angeles County Sheriff. After being sworn in he acknowledged a “responsibility to call out bad policing” and declared he was committed to “eliminate deputy gangs.” Sheriff Luna is appointing April Tardy, a 28-year agency veteran, as undersheriff. A Black woman, she is the first female to hold that position. Unlike the former Sheriff, she has also come out against deputy gangs, transferring eleven members into “non-patrol” positions.

7/3/22  L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Undersheriff Tim Murakami were subpoenaed to testify before the Civilian Oversight Commission about so-called deputy “gangs”. But neither appeared: Villanueva feared physical threats; Murakami claimed it would be too stressful. Matthew Burson, a retired Sheriff’s captain who had investigated alleged mistreatment of colleagues by deputy members of the “Banditos,” testified that he was ordered on Villaneuva’s behalf to ignore the gang (see 6/22 update).

6/22/22  A deposition by a former L.A. County Sheriff’s official states that in 2018, when present Sheriff Alex Villanueva took office, he was ordered to ignore a deputy clique known as the “Banditos” as he investigated an assault among deputies at the East L.A. station, where the clique is based. His deposition was filed in a lawsuit by deputies who claim that the Department was unresponsive to repeated complaints that members of the clique were physically and mentally harassing their colleagues.

5/26/22  L.A. County’s Civilian Oversight Commission began a major investigation into the deputy cliques that beset the Sheriff’s Department. It’s being led by Bert Deixler, a former Federal prosecutor. In the first day of hearings, evidence was introduced about the East L.A. Sheriff’s station “Banditos” and Compton station’s “Executioners.” An anonymous deputy testified that Banditos staged a work slowdown last year to protest their treatment. Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who opposes the inquiry, claims that “this scripted and well-rehearsed political stunt was designed to influence the outcome of the election.”

3/23/22  L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman has sent a letter to Sheriff Alex Villanueva that chides him for denying that deputy gangs exist and criticizes his failure to provide information. Setting a March 31 deadline, he demands all available information about the Executioners, Gladiators, Banditos, Regulators, Jump Out Boys, The Grim Reapers, The Vikings, and “any other group alleged by anyone to be a Potential Law Enforcement Gang.” Huntsman states that he has identified eleven deputy members of the “Banditos” and thirty of the “Executioners” and can provide their names if the sheriff wishes.

2/21/22  Testifying in a lawsuit filed by a supervisor who claims he was “targeted” by the “Executioners,” a deputy gang at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Compton station, its reputed leader, Deputy Jaime Juarez, conceded that he has observed eleven deputies with the clique’s unique tattoo. Its image depicts a skull, a rifle, a military helmet and flames. But Juarez insists that “Executioners” are committed to professionalism and serve the public “with honor and respect.” Deposition video

2/18/22  L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors demanding that they and literally everyone else in the County “cease and desist” referring to “deputy gangs.” His letter cited the dismissal of a lawsuit by an ex-deputy (he claimed that the Compton station’s “Executioners” drove him out of the agency) as proof that deputy gangs are a figment of hostile imaginations. Among the many evildoers mentioned by Villanueva are the respected RAND research group and the Los Angeles Times, whose reporting helps keep the pressing (and very real) issue of deputy gangs alive.

10/2/21  Just signed into law, California Assembli Bill 958 defines a law enforcement “gang” as a group of officers who engage “in a pattern of specified unlawful or unethical on-duty behavior.” It requires that agencies have policies that forbid such groups, and that members be subject to firing.

9/18/21  Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva refuses to ban deputy cliques (“subgroups”) because it abridges the constitutional right to associate. But the County Counsel disagrees. In a new opinion it concluded that subgroups “are defined based on LASD stations, bureaus, or units, and their activities are intertwined with law enforcement functions.” Banning them would address deputies “as LASD personnel, not as private citizens” so “it likely does not implicate the First Amendment.”

9/11/21  A RAND questionnaire about officer “subgroups” (i.e., cliques) was distributed to the L.A. Sheriff Dept.’s 10,000 sworn deputies. It was completed and returned by 1,608, including 16.5% (529) of its 3,202 member patrol force. Substantial proportions of respondents agreed that the groups were more common in high-crime areas and expected members to be hard workers, aggressive, and make many arrests. Only sixteen percent of respondents said they had been invited to join a subgroup. Of these, only 15 percent agreed that joining would have necessarily involved them in violating policy, and  22 percent said that they would have been expected to ignore such behavior by their colleagues.

7/22/21  Concerned that the “Executioners” deputy gang is running things, Calif. Rep. Maxine Waters has asked the Feds to conduct a “pattern or practice” investigation at the Los Angeles Sheriff Dept’s violence-ridden Compton station. That’s where two reported “prospects” for the Executioners fatally shot Andres Guardado in June 2020. Deputies have long complained of tattooed station-house cliques that encourage misbehavior, set arrest quotas and, as a deputy recently testified, celebrate shootings.

6/29/21  L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that he took care of the East L.A. station’s “Banditos” deputy clique in 2018 by transferring out 36 deputies and bringing in a new captain, Cpt. Ernie Chavez, to clean house. But in an ongoing lawsuit by eight deputies who claim they were harassed by the Banditos, Chavez testified Villanueva told him nothing about the Banditos and said the transfers were routine.

3/24/21  L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has gone to court to challenge a subpoena by the County’s Civilian Oversight Commission, whose leader wants the Sheriff to “clarify” what he intends to do about deputy cliques. After unsuccessfully resisting an earlier subpoena Villanueva appeared voluntarily in December. He then said he had not disciplined any deputy for joining a clique since his earlier ban on “abusive groups,” and didn’t think that cliques not “tied” to misconduct could be barred.

1/22/21  An L.A. Coroner’s report indicates that all five rounds that killed Andres Guardado (see 1/17 entry) entered through his back. They were fired by L.A. Sheriff’s deputy Miguel Vega, who was hired in 2009. He is  the subject of recent complaints for excessive force and discourtesy. A licensed security guard has also accused him of loading the gun he lawfully possessed to justify charges. Deputy Vega’s only known disciplinary action is a four-day suspension in 2017 for making false statements or failing to properly screen an inmate. An informer has also accused both deputies of being prospective members of the “Executioners” clique, which their lawyer denies.

1/17/21  L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputies Miguel Vega and Chris Hernandez have been relieved of duty and are being criminally investigated for “kidnapping” allegedly unruly skateboarder Jesus Alegria, 24, then taking him on a “wild ride” that ended in a car crash and left Alegria bleeding from the head. In June Vega and Hernandez shot and killed Andres Guardado, a death still under investigation (see 11/13/20.)

1/1/21  Four of the seven LASD deputies fired in 2013 for belonging to the “Jump Out Boys” clique were reinstated after successfully arguing to the Civil Service Commission that while they wore the clique’s tattoos they did not partake of its creed or mission. Their terminations were reduced to suspensions, but those, too, were later set aside by a judge. One subsequently left the agency; three remain on duty. A year-old Sheriff’s policy now forbids such cliques altogether.

11/13/20  The Los Angeles County Coroner will conduct a rare, full inquest into the shooting death of Andres Guardado on June 18 by deputies who were allegedly “prospective members” of the “Executioners” deputy clique (see 7/8/20 and 7/10/20 updates). Deputies claim that they ran after Guardado after observing that he was armed and that he reached for the gun when he came to a stop.

Lawsuits alleging deputy misconduct have led L.A. County to pay out over $149 million in damages during the last five years. With two years left in his term, Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s alleged refusal to implement correctives and bring his deputies under control has led County Supervisors to explore his removal, either by impeachment or through changes in State law. But the Democratic Party, which endorsed Villanueva’s election, recently failed to pass a resolution endorsing his ouster.

10/21/20  Aja Brown, Mayor of Compton, an incorporated community in South Los Angeles, points to her own mistreatment by deputies as she calls for reforms in how they patrol the poor, violence-stricken area. While some long-time residents praise the Sheriff’s Department for improving safety, a spate of shootings by deputies and the presence of lawless deputy cliques has marred the agcncy’s reputation.

8/21/20  In a deposition being used in a citizen’s excessive force lawsuit against the LASD, a deputy who had worked at the Compton station states that members of the “Executioners” deputy clique would falsely report observing armed suspects so as to provoke a response that might turn up a weapon.

8/14/20  L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that twenty-six deputies will be disciplined for engaging in an off-duty brawl that supposedly pitched members of the “Banditos” deputy clique against non-member colleagues. Complaints about prison-like deputy gangs whose leaders rule the roost, act as “shot callers” and dominate their stations have beset the agency.

8/8/20  An LAPD SWAT Sergeant is suing the city alleging that he was transferred to a less desirable post because he had filed internal complaints alleging that excessive force was being used and that it was encouraged by a “SWAT Mafia” that belittled deescalation and expected officers to ignore regulations.

8/4/20  Three decades of lawsuits alleging various forms of misconduct by members of L.A. Sheriff’s deputy cliques have cost the county $55 million. An overturned murder conviction of a man who spent 20 years in prison reportedly because of pressures placed on witnesses by the “Vikings” was, at $10.1 million, the largest payout. In 2018 the county paid $1.5 million to the family of a man shot and killed by a deputy who allegedly falsely denied being a member of the “Regulators.”

7/31/20  Only days after he “anonymously” reported one colleague for assaulting another, an L.A. Sheriff’s deputy says he received a text message labeling him a “rat.” That’s how the “Executioners,” a Compton station deputy clique that sports Nazi imagery, allegedly began their harassment campaign. They’re also accused of setting arrest quotas and using “slowdowns” to enforce their will with superiors.

4/21/20  LAPD Chief Michel Moore said that due to budgetary constraints brought on by the pandemic, the agency’s crime analysts were discontinuing use of PredPol software. Instead, their work will now be  driven by the community-oriented SARA approach. But agency critics championed the move as a victory in their battle against the unfair targeting of minority communities.

7/24/19 Worried that a “bunker mentality” threatens to bring back the long-troubled agency’s bad old days, L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman bemoaned Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s orders to deny him access to internal documents. With support from some members Huntsman has petitioned the Board of Supervisors to grant him subpoena power. A 2020 ballot measure also proposes to give that right to the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.