A commission charged with oversight of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sought feedback Wednesday from the public regarding people’s experiences with deputies they believe are part of deputy gangs.
Los Angeles County’s Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission launched an online survey, available at bit.ly/Survey-Deputy-Gangs, and asked community members to complete it by July 15.
“The commission will use the survey to learn about community members’ first-hand experiences with alleged deputy gangs and develop qualitative data to report to the (L.A. County) Board of Supervisors,” according to a commission statement. “The survey will also be used to determine whether LASD has been responsive to community members’ complaints about deputy gangs.”
According to the commission, deputy gangs have long been a problem within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and are defined as groups that engage in egregious conduct such as violating the law, using excessive force, or threatening the public or other deputies.
While many of the reported activities may not violate specific laws, the commission in 2023 issued 27 recommendations to eliminate deputy gangs and created report cards to track compliance.
The Board of Supervisors also tasked the commission with gathering qualitative data from individual accounts from members of the public.
Along with the survey, the commission will conduct a “virtual Community Listening Session” on July 10.