Former Sheriff Villanueva Agrees To Testify About Deputy Gangs

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has agreed to testify before the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission about deputy gangs inside the department, according to a letter from his attorney to the panel.

The move comes after Villanueva resisted a subpoena from the panel for more than two years.

He had argued in court that the commission doesn’t have the authority to force a sitting sheriff to testify under oath. Villanueva left office in 2022. His change of heart follows a judge’s decision to schedule a hearing on whether to order him to testify.

Villanueva is “very willing to testify before the COC” and “will answer any questions you have under oath,” his attorney Linda Savitt wrote in the letter dated Dec. 13.

The letter did not state why Villanueva decided to testify now. He is currently running for county supervisor against incumbent Janice Hahn in the fourth district, which stretches from the Palos Verdes Peninsula east to Long Beach and north to Whittier.

Villanueva and Savitt were not immediately available for comment.

Deputy gangs: a 'cancer' or 'hazing run amok'?

Commission Chair Sean Kennedy said he was “hopeful” Villanueva would testify but noted “he’s agreed to testify in the past only to cancel the night before.” Kennedy said the panel is particularly interested in probing allegations the former sheriff blocked investigations into deputy gangs during his four years in office — something Villanueva has denied.

Villanueva has either said deputy gangs don’t exist or downplayed their significance, describing their behavior as “hazing run amok.” In comments to the L.A. Times published Tuesday, he said he is “happy to expose the false narrative of deputy gangs.”

In a podcast documenting the sheriff’s term in office, LAist devoted an episode to deputy gangs — secretive groups of deputies with matching tattoos who allegedly engage in misconduct.

The former sheriff also accused the commission of trying to “influence the outcome of a race I am in.”

In March, a special counsel appointed by the commission issued a scathing report on deputy gangs, calling them a “cancer” that “must be excised” from the department.

Deputies who are part of gangs “valorize violence” by engaging in excessive force, celebrating deputy shootings, and creating “a climate of physical fear and professional retribution to those who would speak publicly about the misconduct of such groups,” the 70-page report read.

New sheriff, new hope?

At the time the report was released, some commissioners expressed hope that newly elected Sheriff Robert Luna would enact a strict policy against deputy gangs.

“We have a willing partner in the new sheriff,” Commissioner Lael Rubin said, contrasting Luna with Villanueva.

After more than a year in office, Luna has yet to do so, citing lengthy negotiations over the issue with the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union that represents rank-and-file deputies.

Critics accuse Luna of dragging his feet on enforcing a state law that bans law enforcement gangs.

“I don’t believe this is a matter of simply ‘Oh I have to negotiate with the unions,” said county Inspector General Max Huntsman. “They allow the code of silence to continue and they don’t actually investigate gangs."

In a news release marking Luna’s one year in office issued earlier this month, the department said the sheriff believes the challenge of eliminating deputy gangs “touches a small percentage of the department” and that he’d assigned two captains instead of one to certain stations as part of a pilot program to deal with the issue.

Kennedy said more progress was needed.

“I think it's a recurring problem that whoever is the elected sheriff pledges reform and then there is a process of silence and backtracking,” he said.

He said Villanueva’s testimony before the commission on his role in addressing the issue is part of a process designed to “break the cycle.”

Villanueva is expected to testify before the commission at its hearing scheduled for Jan. 12.