Two House Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to investigate so-called secretive “deputy gangs” within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that they say are unfairly targeting Black people.
In a letter sent this week, Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch a civil rights investigation into the “violent, lawless conduct” of the gangs.
“There are troubling reports of members of these LASD gangs being involved in instances of brutality against Black people; celebrating deputy-involved shootings; and rewarding other members for breaking the law or violating LASD protocol,” they wrote.
Numerous lawsuits also have accused the alleged gangs of racial discrimination at county jails, including allegations that deputies used racial slurs while assaulting detainees.
The lawmakers said the “unauthorized, exclusive and secretive gangs” of deputies are beholden to a strict code of silence and have been around for more than five decades.
The “Little Devils” gang, which formed in 1971 at the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station, reportedly set off “a pattern of gang proliferation” within “overwhelmingly” White sheriff’s stations located in Black and Latino communities.
“Fifty years after the first reported deputy gang, the violent, lawless conduct of the members of these gangs has led to investigations, lawsuits, and nearly $55 million in settlements against Los Angeles County to resolve allegations of excessive use of force, violence, and intimidation by LASD employees as well as members of the community,” the lawmakers wrote.
They noted that at least $21 million of the settlements came in the last decade alone, according to a recent study by the RAND Corporation.
The letter also cites a report last year by the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy, which the lawmakers say shows a “disturbing correlation” between the gangs and escalating use of force.
According to the report, Black and Hispanic civilians were involved in 80% of the 133 deputy-involved shootings that occurred between November 2015 to November 2020. And each of the 13 patrol stations with more than two deputy-involved shootings during that time period had an “active deputy gang, as well as a history of complaints, reporting, and lawsuits alleging deputy gang misconduct.”
The gangs typically originate in low-income areas with large minority populations that are subjected to “an inordinate amount of heavy-handed, aggressive policing, including racial profiling and excessive use of force,” the report states.
The lawmakers said the Justice Department needs to conduct a full-scale, public probe to ensure the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department “operates in a manner that upholds and respects federal civil rights laws.”
Mr. Raskin, chairman of the subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties, sent a similar letter in September 2020 to then-Assistant Attorney General Eric S. Dreiband in the Trump administration but did not receive a response.
A few months later, the California Justice Department launched a civil-rights investigation to determine whether the sheriff’s department has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing.
“That development only underscores the need for a full-scale federal investigation, especially considering DOJ’s 2015 settlement agreement with LASD following an investigation that found patterns of ‘excessive use of force, biased policing practices,’ and ‘unlawful searches and seizures,’” the lawmakers wrote.
“The failure to address these deputy gangs not only undermines the safety and trust of the people they are sworn to protect — especially those of color — but also threatens equal justice under the law,” they said.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
• Emily Zantow can be reached at ezantow@washingtontimes.com.
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