LOS ANGELES — Nearly three dozen deputies have been ordered to come in for questioning, show their tattoos and give up the names of any other deputies similarly sporting ink connecting them to two of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s most notorious deputy gangs.
The demand came Friday in a letter sent by county Inspector General Max Huntsman to 35 deputies suspected of being members of either the Executioners, which operates out of the Compton station, or the Banditos, which operates out of the East L.A. station.
The names of the deputies have not been released to the public, but Huntsman said they were a subset of the 41 deputies he identified as suspected gang members last year.
The five-page letter from the inspector general, the county’s watchdog, opens by explaining the recipient is “directed to appear in person to participate in an interview to be conducted by the Office of Inspector General concerning the presence of law enforcement gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
It lays out the legal basis for such a probe, citing a 2021 state law that gave inspectors general the authority to investigate law enforcement gangs by specifying that agencies “shall cooperate” with inspector general investigations.
Though the law doesn’t specify what happens if an individual deputy doesn’t cooperate, Huntsman’s letter points to another section of the state’s penal code, which says that failing to cooperate with an investigation into police misconduct can be grounds for decertification of a peace officer.
Then the letter explains the reason for the investigation: Though the Sheriff’s Department has had evidence that secretive and exclusive deputy gangs commonly known as the Banditos and Executioners both exist, the department has never been able to provide investigators with a full list of the members in either group.
“The Office of Inspector General is conducting a series of witness interviews to establish the membership of the Banditos and the Executioners,” the letter continues.
The Sheriff’s Department has long faced allegations about secretive deputy groups running amok in certain stations and jails, controlling command staff and promoting a culture of violence. A Loyola Marymount University report released in 2021 identified 18 such groups that have existed over the last five decades, including the Executioners and the Banditos.
Members of the former are alleged to sport tattoos of a skull with Nazi imagery and an AK-47, while members of the latter are allegedly known for their matching tattoos of a skeleton outfitted with a sombrero, bandoleer and pistol.
The current round of letters comes on the heels of a series of efforts to curb gang activity within the Sheriff’s Department.
Shortly after taking office, Luna, LA County sheriff, announced the creation of an Office for Constitutional Policing with the aim of eradicating deputy gangs. And, in a lengthy report released a few weeks later, the Civilian Oversight Commission’s special counsel offered more than two dozen recommendations to get rid of gangs, including firing captains who won’t support anti-gang policies, requiring deputies to hide any gang-related tattoos at work, notifying prosecutors whenever a gang-involved deputy is set to testify as a witness in court and holding community meetings.
Unlike his predecessor, Luna has acknowledged the existence of deputy gangs and publicly said he wants to end them. However, he has not yet formally accepted the report’s recommendations.