According to an internal memo dated last Friday that WitnessLA has obtained, the LA Sheriff’s Department has received a new grand gury subpoena asking for any and all documents, et al, pertaining to the various deputy cliques that have notoriously formed at patrol stations and inside Men’s Central Jail—cliques like the Vikings, the Regulators, the 2000 Boys and the 3000 boys, The Jump Out Boys…and so on. This would suggest that the Feds criminal probe of the department has now widened to include these so-called “affinity groups,” which have been the subject of highly critical press reports over the years, and have been implicated in a variety of lawsuits, some of them still ongoing.
Several of these cliques, like the Regulators in particular, have been a cause of serious concern among department supervisors in years past, according to documents WitnessLA has previously obtained and reported on here.
It has also been a source of controversy that certain members of cliques like the Regulators and the Vikings hold positions of authority in the department. (The highest ranking is, of course, the undersheriff, Paul Tanaka, who still reportedly retains his Viking tattoo on his ankle.)
It will be interesting to see what comes of this new probe.
Last month, if you’ll remember, the LA Times reported that the FBI was investigating the matter of whether or not certain members of the LA County Sheriff’s Department moved FBI informant, Anthony Brown, from place to place inside the county jail system, giving him phony names and fake inmate numbers. Our sources with first hand knowledge of the matter confirmed that, contrary to the department’s official statement on moving the inmate, this was done specifically to keep him away from his Fed handlers. Our sources also said that they were told by their own supervisor, Lt. Greg Thompson (a former Viking, by the way) that the orders to hide the inmate came directly from Undersheriff Paul Tanaka.
And now we see this new prong of what appears to be an ever-widening FBI investigation.
Here’s the memo pertaining to the deputy cliques:
From: Hellmold, James J.
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 10:42 AM
To: All Chiefs; Parker, Michael J. (SHB)
Subject: Federal Criminal Grand jury Subpoena #2086, Item 8
The Department has received a Federal Criminal Grand Jury Subpoena demanding the production of documents. Two of the demands are as follows:
“ Any documentation, reports, memorandum, notes, drawing, pictures, civil litigation documents, or media statements regarding any Deputy clique (Current or Historical), investigated by lAB, ICIB, OIR, or any other LASD entity, including but not limited to: the “Vikings,” “Regulators,” “3000 boys,” “2000 boys,” “Cavemen” “Banditos,” and “Jump Out Boys.” And, “Any documents, policy changes, memorandum, reports, emails, or declarations issued as a result of Deputy cliques at the East Los Angeles station.”
In the Department’s effort to comply completely and thoroughly with this subpoena, you are instructed to review the demand by the United States Attorney’s Office and determine whether you, or anyone within your chain of command at the rank of lieutenant or above, possess any documents responsive to this subpoena. Any responsive documents should be forwarded to the Discovery Unit for production to our law firm. If you determine there are no responsive documents within your chain of command, an email indicating such should be forwarded to Lt. Judy Gerhardt. The Discovery Unit will track responses from each Division to ensure the Department’s response is exhaustive to the best of its ability.
The due date for responses to the Discovery Unit should be Monday, January 14.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Lt. Gerhardt at [numbers deleted by WLA]
James J. Hellmold
Assistant Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
4700 Ramona Boulevard
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Another memo from the funny farm! Between the lines this memo says” you better not say anything if you value your safety.”
“Any responsive documents should be forwarded to the Discovery Unit for production to our law firm.”
I thought the County Counsel handled all that. You mean LASD now has its own law firm?
Interesting.
We don’t have a law firm per se. We hire an outside (top notch) firm to handle important cases as County Counsel would lose this case in a heart beat. Also, this keeps high profile firms from representing plaintiffs. Pretty smart actually. C: you don’t think they want to know who are the current or past deputies with tattoos on their legs? I mean it should be fairly easy; just look at the Undersheriff, Assistant Sheriffs or the captains of Personnel and Aero just to start with. Naw! Maybe they don’t want that!
I could care less if deputies had tats on their ankles. What I do care about is deputies acting like the gang members that are arrested.
I understand that gang members are shitheads But, if deputies can beat the crap out of fellow deputies in a gang like fashion, what do they do to everyone else?
Hopefully the FBI also goes after the DA’s office on each and every charge they didn’t decide to persue regarding this issue.
One other thing is that the department is only asking lieutenant and above to this request. I would assume deputies and sgt’s could probably provide more of what the FBI is looking for.
No comment’s from you OG’s like FTF and the other’s?
# 5 Interested Party
I agree. Why isn’t this subpoena reaching lower than Lt? Can’t the LASD then technically be in compliance if they dump a bunch of files into various Ops Sgt’s cubicles and say “no one Lt. or above has anything”?
What a joke. The department is going to find loopholes big enough to drive trucks through, and never turn over anything of substance.
Haha I like how j London thinks he know oh so much 🙂
Why are these tattooed deputies such a big deal? FBI should start probing every single military unit, police dept, and fire. I’m pretty sure all these organizations have some sort of tattoo that signifies some type of pride or esprit de corps. So if journalist had a typewriter tattooed on their arms would they be a gang? Should they be probed. Lets focus on deputies that need to be investigated and not so much cliques, supposed gang deputies, and tattoos…
#8: Tattoos indicate susceptibility to peer group pressure, so the mind-thought of the tattooed individual is really the mind-thought of the peer group represented by the tattoo. With the U.S. Military, no problem. With other peer groups, not so sure….
Re: posts #4 and #5 (Interested Party) — interesting you’ve begun using a blog name so close to the one I’ve used the past year.
I didn’t know that tattoo’s only indicated that, “susceptibility”, that is. As far as peer groups and mind-thought, I think that should be based on the case by case basis, not every single tattooed individual in a peer group shares the same ideology. Military no problem, i’m glad we agree on something, but from what I always understood was that Law Enforcement organizations were para-miltary organizations. Hence, the uniforms, rank structure, and ability to carry and use firearms.
Some of these issues that LASD is facing is definitely a group of individuals who lacked the maturity and discipline to perform and carry out their duties. Tattooed or not, I think today’s society has changed a lot from years prior within law enforcement and civilian life. There was a time were the respected and honorable deputies were those who served our country and came home with a certain reverence for life and it’s freedom. They instilled a sense of respect for deputies to have for themselves and their career. I’m not saying they were perfect, but the problems today weren’t the problems we faced years ago.
Time will only tell what future LASD will face.
Where’s Andy Schermerhorn?
One can only laugh at the Sheriff’s plan to keep FBI mole Brown living out of a suitcase while in custody, ostensibly hiding him from contact by his Federal handlers.
My source told me that the whirlwind tour of LASD custody facilities is not exclusively for V.I.P.’s.
He was pulled over by the CHP for a moving violation and the computer rang up a bench warrant for an old F.T.A.
His vehicle was impounded and he was transported to Palmdale
Station. Then to I.R.C. on Bauchet Street. Then to Wayside. Then to Antelope Valley Courthouse. Then back to I.R.C.
These are called “dry runs”. Apparently the Sheriff Dept. receives a set reimbursement fee from the State for each transportation event of a custody between facilities.
The reimbursement mechanism creates an incentive for maximizing Transportation events in order to increase revenue to the Sheriff Dept.
My source claimed he only had his own bed for 30 minutes during his entire stay. The rest of the time spent in holding tanks, riding the bench at I.R.C. or riding the bus North and South.
6 days and 5 nights in custody. And 600 miles on the County tour bus.
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