Sheriff Fires 6 Deputies Accused of Christmas Party Beating

The six—which the LASD will not name—were part of a clique that worked on the 3rd floor of Men’s Central Jail.

(Why is the fact that they work at CJ not surprising.?)

The LA Times’ Robert Faturechi—who has been consistently doing some very nice reporting—has the story.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has begun termination proceedings against six deputies who were part of what officials describe as an aggressive group that used ganglike hand signals to identify themselves and allegedly assaulted two fellow deputies at a Christmas party last year.

The firing of six deputies marks one of the largest disciplinary actions in the department’s history, officials said.

The deputies worked on the third floor of Men’s Central Jail, where they allegedly were part of a clique that had certain ganglike characteristics, including three-finger hand signs, representing the third floor.

[SNIP]

In addition to the termination proceedings against the six men, the department is considering reforms in jail assignments, such as more regular rotations to keep deputies from forming similar cliques.

Public records obtained by The Times show that deputies assigned to that floor of the jail had a higher number of use-of-force incidents against inmates during a recent four-year period than those assigned to any other floor at the downtown Los Angeles facility.

Records show that between 2006 and 2010, the third floor recorded 437 use-of-force incidents, with the next closest floors reporting 426 and 226.

Gennaco said the frequency of force on the third floor did not necessarily mean that the force there was excessive because the floor houses a “certain pedigree of inmates,” largely those with more violent histories.

Whether the existence of a clique was known by sheriff’s supervisors before this incident is being investigated.

The fact that the LASD won’t release the sames of the six is unfortunate. It would be helpful to know if any of the fired deputies were involved in the incidents that have been investigated by the ACLU, by various attorneys, and now by us at WitnessLA.

I hope and presume that the names cannot stay hidden forever.