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Report: Sheriff's Deputies Smuggle Drugs Into Jails, Have Sex With Inmates
Photo by eyetwist via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
A report released Thursday reveals that numerous Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies have been involved over a two-year period in activities such as smuggling drugs, cellphones, and other items into jails. Additionally, some deputies get too close to inmates, including becoming involved with them sexually.
The information comes from the 10th annual report of the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review (OIR), a watchdog agency overseeing the LASD, according to City News Service. The report notes that the LASD had launched internal investigations into "nearly 40" department employees during the course of two years.
Among the drug-smuggling cases was that of Henry Marin, the now ex-LASD officer who smuggled heroin into jail in a bean and cheese burrito.
Deputies have been investigated for passing along clothes, food, or messages from loved ones to inmates. Some of the "inappropriate personal relationships" between inmates and deputies did lead to sexual encounters, per the report.
The report did not disclose the number of deputies disciplined as a result of the smuggling investigation, which was prompted by information from a confidential informant, according to the OIR report.
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