Ex-LA Sheriff Denounces 'Witch Hunt' For Alternate Gang Members

After years Defying subpoenas and dismissing calls to testify as a “political circus designed for political damage,” former Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva finally testified to the county's Political Oversight Committee on the problem of gang deputies on the force Friday.

As Rolling rock reported that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is riddled with violent gangs of deputies who threaten the public and threaten the cohesion of the nation's third-largest police force. Despite scandals involving MP gangs repeatedly stigmatizing his tenureVillanueva testified that he never launched a systemic investigation into the matter, insisting that it focused on punishing individual “misdeeds.”

The former sheriff was even justified in promoting known substitute gang members to leadership positions in his administration. Villanueva said he's not interested in a “witch hunt” over “what kind of ink they have on their bodies.” And he insisted: “I've never examined anyone's tattoo.”

Villanueva, now running for a Los Angeles County supervisor position, was characteristically bombastic throughout his testimony — often trying to turn things around on the commission. He asked a question about the handling of gangs “about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.” He minimized the threat of surrogate gangs, comparing them to other benign “subgroups” of surrogates, including “softball teams.” In a revealing exchange, Villanueva stated that if the LASD were to root out all deputies based on their gang tattoo affiliations, it would spark a “huge public safety crisis.”

The LASD is a huge force—it has nearly 10,000 sworn deputies—and it also operates the largest prison system in the United States. In early 2023, a caustic COC report demanded that LASD brass take decisive action against surrogate gangs: “It's time to eradicate this 50-year-old scourge in Los Angeles County.”

That report identified at least “half a dozen” substitute gangs run out of the department's stations, with names like the Banditos (based at the East LA station) and the Executioners (Compton). LASD gangs, the report described, operate “like the Mafia,” with “made up” members receiving gang tattoos. The badge of the Executioners, it is detailed, is “a skeleton holding an automatic rifle.” Banditos' tattoo is a skeleton in a sombrero with a thick mustache and a smoking revolver. MPs are usually inked on their shins or ankles.

These surrogate gangs are dangerous to county residents, fellow deputies, and the operation of the LASD. At the stations where they operate, the report details, the gangs have “fired callers” who make law enforcement decisions outside the formal chain of command, instead of “the sergeants, lieutenants and captains charged with the task.”

Far from being in the lower ranks, the report revealed that “tattooed surrogate gang members” had reached “the highest levels” within the LASD command structure. He called Villanueva “at least tolerating, if not rewarding, surrogate gangs.” To wit, Villanueva's chief of staff testified under oath in 2022 to the COC that he was formerly a tattooed member of a surrogate group called the Grim Reapers. The COC also heard testimony that now-retired Undersheriff Tim Murakami had a tattoo about a “gang” called the Cavemen.

Murakami has a stable he refused to appear before the KOK to answer questions about MP gangs. During questioning Friday, Villanueva denied being a member of the Cavemen himself. Asked when he knew Murakami was a gang member, Villanueva balked, insisting the question was loaded, “like the question 'When did you stop beating your wife?'

The former sheriff was asked if it promotes “good community relations” for the public to interact with deputies wearing gang tattoos — for example the Enforcers' tattoo of a “helmeted skeleton holding a rifle.” Villanueva replied, “Well, if they're out there running around in shorts, with all those tattoos, maybe. But if they're wearing pants — huh?'

Parts of Villanueva's testimony required the suspension of disbelief. He claimed he did not know whether MP gangs were exclusive or discriminatory in how they offered membership. And despite being faced with a current Los Angeles Times history revealing the existence of a new deputy gang, Villanueva asserted that “the problem is actually going away.”

On the other hand, Villanueva also appeared to argue that the problem of gang membership is so pervasive that it cannot be addressed directly. “What exactly are you going to do when you find out that maybe 20 percent of your workforce has tattoos?” he asked during an exchange with COC counsel. “Are you going to put them on a shelf somehow? Or fire all 20 percent of the department for having tattoos?''

Adding to the circus-like atmosphere, Villanueva also rebuked the COC's insinuations that she had obstructed an investigation into gang violence as “disgusting” and “disgusting.” Villanueva even claimed, during a break, that some members of the proceedings' audience were exposing his wife.

The activity of LASD substitute gangs usually leads to abuses. MPs looking to gain a place in a gang are described in the 2023 COC report as 'chasing ink' – or seeking to prove their mettle by abusing members of the public. That led to “unconstitutional” acts of “excessive force,” the report found, including deputies attempting to “engage in gunfire” with suspects believed to be armed.

In addition, the report describes how some gangs have organized “shooting parties” to celebrate members firing their weapons at suspects. Such deputies are then allowed to “add embellishments” to their gang tattoos – for example, a puff of “smoke” on a gun barrel.

Within the LASD, gangs pose a threat to non-deputies. The report describes gangs as discriminating on the basis of race and gender when selecting members. And non-members have reportedly been subjected to a wide range of abuses — ranging from attack by gang members to deny them support at dangerous crime scenes. The report also describes how the gangs “operate in secrecy”, with members reportedly willing to “lie in reports to protect each other”.

A separate 2021 report, commissioned by the county, revealed that judgments stemming from the misdeeds of substitute gangs cost county taxpayers more than $50 million in settlements and judgments.

Villanueva, perhaps the most terrorized politician in California, lost his bid for re-election at the end of 2022. New Sheriff Robert Luna ran as a reformer and has been on the job now for a year. He quickly established a new Office of the Constitutional Police, promising to help “eradicate” substitute gangs.

While the mild-mannered Luna has been Villanueva's stylistic counterpart, he has accomplished little of substance on the gang front — including not enforcing a ban on gang tattoos. This week, the existence of a new alleged gang – the 'Indians', based out of City of Industry station – became public, as part of a report about four LASD deputies who were fired from the force after a 2022 drunken brawl with teenagers outside a bowling alley.

At the end of a year interview with the Los Angeles Times, Luna blamed bureaucracy for his lack of action. “I admit there is an issue,” he told the newspaper, adding that “anytime we're dealing with workers' hours, working conditions or things that affect people's daily lives, we have to go through a meeting and consultation. edit, process.”

Asked if the LASD would unveil a new anti-gang policy in 2024, Luna replied, “That's my absolute expectation.”