L.A. County sheriff announces inquiry into secret societies of deputies and their matching tattoos

[dalton99a]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-sheriff-tattoo-oversight-commission-20180726-story.html

L.A. County sheriff announces inquiry into secret societies of deputies and their matching tattoos
By Maya Lau | Jul 26, 2018 | 8:55 PM

Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell has launched a comprehensive inquiry into secret deputy cliques and is looking into whether gangs that condone illicit behavior are operating within his ranks, he said Thursday.

McDonnell’s announcement at a meeting of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission comes two weeks after allegations surfaced that as many as 20 deputies at the Compton Station have matching tattoos featuring a skeleton holding a rifle.

A Compton deputy recently admitted under oath that he was inked with the skull logo in June 2016, about two months before he was involved in a fatal shooting, The Times reported.

Watchdogs said the revelations were alarming given the department’s long history of secret societies that promoted excessive force and enforced a code of silence.

Secret societies in the department date at least as far back as the 1970s and have had names like the Regulators, Grim Reapers and Jump Out Boys. Some of the cliques have been accused of endorsing highly aggressive policing. Nearly 30 years ago, a federal judge said the Vikings club was a “neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang.”

[Iggo]

1. Mm-hmm. We'll see.

[TheBlackAdder]

2. What, no pyramids? I guess the Illuminati isn't represented.

[Tipperary]

3. They had that big cadet scandal not too long ago. Sounds like the LA cops ARE a gang.

[Blue_true]

8. What was the cadet scandal? nt

[msongs]

4. their union will not like this investigation much nt

[NCTraveler]

7. It probably shouldn't.

Publicly, anyway. I imagine there is much more info known.

[Mc Mike]

5. I wonder if there is a particular L.A. wiseguy biker gang's tattoo parlor

the deputees favor, to get their ink.

[NCTraveler]

6. Why don't fifty of them get together...

Put spoon tattoos on their arms and promote working at soup kitchens. That would make one bad ass cop gang.

[Blue_true]

10. Most look at that type of effort as being below them.

Big urban areas need to redouble efforts to make the police force mirror the people that it polices and have new officers live in single family homes or apartments in the communities that they police, and verify residence to circumvent tricks like address sharing by several officers, a lot of this stuff would go away.

[UTUSN]

9. Excellent, Sheriff McDONNELL! Thanks!1