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L.A. Sheriff's Department Fesses Up To Hiring 80 Bad Apples
(Photo by Lucy Rendler-Kaplan via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
An L.A. County Sheriff's Department official admitted today that they hired 80 officers they shouldn't have.
Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers told the Los Angeles Times that some of the people they hired had major criminal convictions or had been accused of serious on-duty misconduct. He said he was legally unable to list the issues nor reveal the names of the officers.
The department says it intends on "making some swift changes," but Rogers admitted it would be hard to fire the ones that had issues prior to their hiring, since the department was already well-aware of the misconduct.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times' investigation on the department's hiring process revealed that 188 applicants that had been hired in 2010 had been rejected by other departments and 29 had been forced to resign from their other police positions. One officer even had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was 28. In addition, they reported that there were incidents of theft, falsifying records, and soliciting prostitutes.
This confession about the department's shoddy hiring practices comes on the heels of an FBI investigation into the L.A. County Sheriff's Department that has indicted 18 deputies for a long list of misconduct. In one case, a FBI informant was egregiously mistreated at the Men's Central Jail by deputies. Deputies were accused of locking up visitors under phony charges and abusing inmates. When deputies found out they were being investigated, a pair of sergeants threatened to arrest an FBI agent.
Related stories:
Report: Sheriff's Department Hired Criminals
The Most Shocking Allegations To Come Out Of The FBI Crackdown On L.A. Sheriff's Department
Dozens of L.A. Sheriff's Officials Expected To Be Arrested After Hiding FBI Informant [UPDATED]
L.A. Sheriff's Sergeants Taped Themselves Threatening FBI Agent
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