California Attorney General Launches Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Civil Rights Investigation

The California Attorney General on Friday announced the launch of a civil rights investigation in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a besieged law enforcement agency that has been at the center of several controversial shootings in recent years and allegations that gang gangs regularly engage in misconduct.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the investigation will seek to determine whether the sheriff’s department has engaged “in an unconstitutional policing model or practice.”

“There are serious concerns and reports that accountability and respect for lawful police practices have expired in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” he said in a statement. “We are undertaking this investigation to determine if LASD has violated the law or the rights of residents of Los Angeles County.”

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The statement did not mention any specific incident. In a statement, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he was eagerly awaiting the investigation and had previously requested investigations from the Becerra Surveillance Department.

“Our department could finally have an impartial and objective assessment of our operations and recommendations on all areas where we can improve our service to the community,” he said. “During my administration, we have regularly asked the Attorney General’s Office to monitor our investigations, as we will provide immediate access to all information in our possession.”

The California Department of Justice said Becerra, who is President Biden’s candidate for the head of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has made no decision on specific complaints or allegations. He noted that the investigation was not a criminal investigation.

“Unlike a criminal investigation of an incident or individual incidents, an investigation of patterns or practices generally serves to identify and, if applicable, resolve potentially systemic violations of constitutional rights of the community as a whole by an organization. law enforcement, ”the agency said.

The Sheriff’s Department has made headlines in recent years for a number of controversial shootings involving MPs, including the death of Andres Guardado. Guardado, 18, a security guard in an auto body shop, was fatally shot five times in the back in June 2020 as he fled two MPs.

MPs were patrolling and said they saw Guardado with a gun. The teenager ran and was shot in an alleyway. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said the death was homicide.

A whistleblower within the department testified under oath that the two deputies were crooked cops and potential members of “The Executioners”, a suspected gang within the Department’s Compton station that controlled the station by force, threats, slowdowns and acts of retaliation.

Other gangs made up of MPs have been documented in other county sheriff positions. Villanueva has been criticized by leaders over the misconduct of MPs and an alleged lack of accountability. Some have called for his resignation.

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Other incidents include the arrest of a journalist covering an anti-police protest after the shooting of two MPs and allegations that the department covered up a complaint about an MP who shared photos from the crash site. helicopter where Kobe Bryant died.

More recently, the department came under scrutiny after the shooting death of Dijon Kizzee, 29, who died after being shot several times by deputies following a foot chase.

Villanueva accused the county supervisory board of engaging in a “proxy war” against him for “exposing corruption at all levels of county government”.