The 63-page lawsuit accuses the Banditos - a male-only, predominantly Latino clique, who the FBI is also watching - of targeting, harassing, and intimidating other Latino officers not in the group, as well as civilians. The result, the lawsuit argues, is that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has a culture that “is warped and off track.” The lawsuit alleges a pattern of officer harassment, intimidation, and retaliation “The sheriff is trying to wrongfully minimize the impact of these gangs,” Vincent Miller, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told the Appeal this week. The September lawsuit also argues that the existence of the Banditos - and of other similar groups in the county - have negatively impacted deputies, even as Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva argues that the groups are little more than “ intergenerational hazing.” In late September, eight LASD deputies filed a lawsuit against one such group, called the “Banditos,” a deputy clique of several dozen members who operate out of the department’s East Los Angeles station.Ĭriminal justice news outlet the Appeal reports that according to the lawsuit, the group uses violence and intimidation to maintain a “stranglehold on the unincorporated communities east of downtown,” with members sporting “tattoos featuring a pistol-wielding, sombrero- and bandolier-wearing skeleton with a thick mustache and a unique number for each member.” In 2018, the outlet noted that the existence of nearly three dozen federal civil rights lawsuits against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department pointed to a deputy “gang culture that encourages excessive force, particularly against minorities.” “But time and again, the deputy clubs have come under fire for promoting aggressive tactics and an us-versus-everyone mentality.”Īccording to the Times, there have been several clubs that have existed in the various stations under the sheriff’s department, with some groups becoming defunct, leaving new cliques to take their place. “Defenders say the cliques are harmless fraternities, likening them to close-knit groups in the military,” the LA Times noted in a July article. Such groups are not exclusive to Los Angeles County, but the area has reportedly had a particularly difficult time dealing with the groups.
In other cases, deputies allegedly received additional markings after fulfilling certain conditions, like committing police brutality or being involved in a shooting. In some instances, according to reports, this ink is only granted after a deputy commits an illegal act or violates department protocol to show their loyalty to the group. Members of a specific group often have a shared “ink” that symbolizes their membership. But one of the features that has been most commonly cited is tattoos. Many of the deputy cliques share common features: hierarchical structures, intensive recruitment, hazing of younger officers, and a resistance to outsiders. Outlets like the Los Angeles Times have highlighted how other officers have filed formal complaints about the “secretive groups,” describing them as powerful forces within the sheriff’s department who beat and harass local residents and, at times, actively work to intimidate other nonaffiliated officers. These groups, which have reportedly been around in some form or another in Los Angeles County since the 1970s, have been a frequent topic of local media reporting.
As concerns over police misconduct and use of force have drawn increased national attention in recent years, activists have argued that a key part of the problem is the ability for officers to shield one another from accountability.īut in California, critics of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department have been faced with a unique version of the issue: the existence of what have been called “ deputy gangs” - cliques of officers who allegedly engage in violent and potentially criminal behavior while protecting their members and clashing with other law enforcement officers.
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