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LA Sheriff bans deputy gangs 3 years after law required policy. Watchdog inspector calls it 'bare minimum'
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has announced a long-awaited — and legally required — policy banning deputy gangs — an issue that has challenged the department for decades.
Max Huntsman, L.A. County's inspector general, said the policy released Wednesday doesn't go far enough.
"We've gotten a policy that seems to be the bare minimum required by law that they could have put in place two-plus years [ago] now," Huntsman said.
He also said his office was kept out of developing the policy. The department denies that claim.
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What's outlined in the policy?
The new policy is just over 800 words and says officers can be disciplined and fired for being in a law enforcement gang or hate group.
It also said the department will investigate alleged officer gangs within its ranks and cooperate with other authorized agencies conducting similar investigations.
The policy was posted on internal section of the Sheriff’s Department website.
Why now
It comes three years after California legislators passed a law requiring law enforcement agencies to ban gang membership.
Why it matters
A report by a special counsel appointed by the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission last year called deputy gangs a “cancer” on the department and identified at least six deputy gangs or cliques within its ranks.
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Two months after that report was issued, a judge issued an preliminary injunction blocking Huntsman from asking 35 deputies to reveal any gang tattoos they may have.
As LAist correspondent Frank Stoltze reported at the time:
The deputies union argued it would have been an unreasonable search and would have violated California labor law... [Huntsman] argued a new state law that bans law enforcement gangs required the deputies to cooperate. In addition, Sheriff Robert Luna ordered the deputies to cooperate.
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