The chief watchdog for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has typically relied on cooperation from the law enforcement agency to obtain documents and access to internal department data.
Now, the county Office of Inspector General is one step closer to gaining a much more powerful tool.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to explore how to grant the inspector general subpoena power — a legal mechanism that would allow the office to compel information from the Sheriff’s Department related to secret societies of deputies who wear matching tattoos.
The expanded authority would also potentially enable the inspector general to force the department to provide access to its facilities, hand over records and make its employees available to speak about other topics.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.