Article here:
In summary, at least 4 violent gangs made up of deputies operate within the LASD, with initiation rituals like breaking the bone of an inmate in custody or killing a civilian on the streets. How did this happen, how has this been going on for so long, and how do we destroy it?
LASD has been made up of lawless thugs for years, since the Sheriff is independently elected and usually an anti-constitutional fascist, there is unlikely to be any reform unless you find a way for some higher-level State authority to intervene.
I’ve heard about this for years but if the scope and scale of Rolling Stone article is to be believed it is much worse than I understood. The LAPD had to go through very public reforms after several notorious incidences of corruption and brutality came to notice, but LASD has never been subject to the same scrutiny despite operating in the same location and having much looser screening and oversight processes.
As for how it could happen, a combination of a lack of oversight and lack of accountability, along with recruiting from people already prone to joining along. Police organisations tend to be insular and protective of its members (and reinforce “in-group” behaviors even when they are ethically suspect and in violation of policy or the laws they are supposed to be enforcing) so when you add in a gang contingent that goes up through line management it becomes inevitable for it to grow even when executive management is aware of the problem. The attitude becomes, “Sure, 15% of our deputies are affiliated with gangs or gang-related activity, but who else are we going to recruit?”
Stranger
LASD has always had the benefit of being compared to it’s closest counterpart, the LAPD. Few people are going to complain about a few rabid dogs in the neighborhood when there are genuine werewolves roaming the streets.
ETA - This is my perception having lived in the area during times of extreme LAPD abuses. I haven’t lived there in almost 20 years.
If you are criminally inclined and don’t want to face punishment, what better way than joining the police?