Forty-seven Los Angeles County sheriff officers were added on Monday as defendants named in a lawsuit alleging the existence of a “criminal gang” of deputies called Banditos at the department’s east LA station.
The new defendants represent a significant expansion of the civil rights and workplace harassment process that was first opened two years ago and previously named just four former deputies and the county of Los Angeles. It was filed in the name of eight deputies who accused a group of colleagues of belonging to a “gang” that violated the civil rights of deputies who did not support them with a campaign of harassment and physical aggression.
The new defendants include two commanders, three captains, two lieutenants and 41 deputies, according to the plaintiff’s attorney, Vincent Miller. Thirty-one are said to be bandits, associates or potential candidates for the gang, he said. Twenty-four are currently stationed in east Los Angeles. The FBI has opened an investigation into this and other alleged cliques within the department.
The new lawsuit does not include specific allegations for each new defendant. Instead, the defendants face the allegations previously established in the lawsuit. These allegations accused Banditos and their associates of harassing other deputies who do not support them, creating a hostile workplace. and plant evidence.
The suit says the department is “permeated by the culture of criminal gangs” in addition to the Banditos. Those who are not bandits have allegedly failed to stop them, according to Miller, or have been involved in covering up their misdeeds.
“You have people who handled the investigations of the internal affairs bureau,” Miller told LAist. “You have people who were put in leadership positions who were basically there to hide, minimize and cover up the extent of the problem of gangs of deputies.”
One of the new defendants named is Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s chief of security, and another is his driver, according to Miller.
The sheriff’s department declined to comment on the charges.
Instead, it issued this statement: “Sheriff Alex Villanueva was the first sheriff in LASD history to implement a strict policy of banning clicks and subcultures, and he has repeatedly demonstrated his commitment to transparency and accountability. ”
In August, Villanueva announced a “zero tolerance policy for clicks / subgroups of deputies involved in misconduct,” according to the statement.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Delegates Association, which represents some of the defendants, declined to comment until he saw the new court documents.
LA County supervisor Hilda Solis, who represents eastern LA, said in an emailed statement: “It is a shame to know that the number of gang member deputies, specifically the Banditos, has increased and now includes those who have enabled and hid their misconduct. It must be emblematic that the policies that supposedly prohibit deputies from joining gangs will not solve the problem ”.
Solis added: “These are deputies who wreak havoc and damage and only traumatize our residents instead of helping and serving them,” saying it is time for the department “to take the elimination of deputy gang members seriously.”
The expanded process comes amid growing scrutiny of how Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who started his career at East LA Station, addressed the longstanding problem of subgroups of deputies. Some of these groups have been accused of violence and harassment by both residents and colleagues. They are called “gangs” because they wear matching tattoos, operate in secret and have initiation rituals.
The Bandito tattoo is a skeleton with a giant mustache wearing a sombrero with a bandolier and a pistol.
A report by Loyola Law School found 18 gangs of deputies operating within the department. Its author, Professor Sean Kennedy, said that at least seven remain active.
This story has been updated.
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