For years, the existence of deputy gangs within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been a point of contention, with officials like former Sheriff Alex Villanueva publicly disputing that the secret organizations even exist.
Last week, however, a deputy testifying in court revealed his involvement in one of those groups and even displayed the tell-tale tattoo that alleged members receive upon initiation.
Deputy Jaime Juarez said that during his time in the Compton station, he joined the Executioners and was inked with “a helmet-wearing skeleton gripping a rifle,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Villanueva has long asserted the groups don’t exist, going so far as to send the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors a cease-and-desist letter telling them to stop using the term “deputy gangs.”
However, the Civilian Oversight Commission found the groups do exist and that those who have spoken up about them have been retaliated against.
After Villanueva’s electoral defeat, his successor, Sheriff Robert Luna, has ordered that his employees be interviewed about their involvement with the so-called gangs and show any tattoos to investigators.
With Luna’s creation of the Office of Constitutional Policing to “eradicate deputy gangs from this department,” more alleged members — and any tattoos they may have — may soon be revealed.