The Los Angeles Times released an article titled “Special counsel urges sheriff [Robert Luna]to ban the ‘cancer’ of deputy gangs” but didn’t former Sheriff Alex Villanueva already issue that directive?
They say politics is nothing but theater and if any party gets that description to a tee it’s the democratic liberal left wing of the progressive party or as I like to refer to them as the knock-off TJ- Maxx version of Marjorie Taylor -Greene of the Pro-Trump party where the rhetoric from the most extreme voting blocks of both parties are equally dangerous. Why?
Their ideology is extreme and the consequences are dangerous.
As we see in the Civilian Oversight Commission’s recently released special report it specifically cites that deputy gangs in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department didn’t originate with former Sheriff Alex Villanueva but has been a cancer plaguing the department for over 50 years and defies with harsh rebuke the theory that Villanueva ushered in an era of rogue deputies.
What it does is expands on the chronic systematic and complete utter failure of the department and Men’s Central Jail squarely at the feet of County Counsel and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for using suspected members of these so-called cliques and/or gangs to offer expert and truthful testimony in seeking criminal prosecutions although the District Attorney’s office knew these officer’s reputation and character could compromise a defendant’s right to a fair trial. Because if the thousands of reports on the issue “holds water” then why aren’t more deputies being tried by District Attorney George Gascón?
In fact, if the revelations revealed by the report haven’t prompted an automatic review by Gascón, then why not Attorney General Rob Bonta? His predecessor Xavier Becerra announced a civil rights probe before he headed off to Washington D.C. but instead of Bonta providing updates, he turned his attention to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The continuous use of Sheriff’s deputies with questionable backgrounds violates in theory a defendant’s right access to exculpatory evidence and these defendants have, at bare minimum, a legal and moral right to know that deputies that are offering testimony in support of criminal convictions maybe actually criminal themselves. They always say “he who tells the story first absolves themselves of wrongdoing”.
I wish digesting the report was simple because although we don’t have privy yet to see these documents it’s clearly obvious the report falls short of inferring and implying any blame or failure to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors or Inspector General Max Huntsman.
And why not? Aren’t the board of supervisors busy endorsing people for the job who continuously come up short on results?
It’s hard for any reasonable and unbiased person to not consider this report about the LASD and its shortcomings that in my opinion, shows that not only is the Board of Supervisors willfully complicit in the seemingly planned destruction and conquest of the Sheriff’s department, and its day to day operations, but also Max Huntsman who appears to serve as a buffer and/or conduit between the board and public whose sole job is to divert blame and responsibility to others than at the feet of the Board who appointed him to this high-profile job.
They have willfully shown themselves to be impediments of critically needed reform within the LASD but also in transforming Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail which has been under a federal consent decree on and off going back to the 70’s for its chronic inhumane conditions despite decades of false promises and hope of a new jail being built only to have the Board cancel the contract they had already approved. Instead of following through with the rebuild it would have allowed the jai to become more modern and address the safety concerns of both the inmates and staff assigned to work in them.
How do we know the Board is corrupt? Its loudest and most visible member will be in a federal courtroom on March 7 facing a 21-count indictment for the nefarious use of his votes in exchange for personal favors. Allegations that I may add that has plagued the longtime lawmaker for decades. And it doesn’t stop with him.
Sheila Kuehl, his staunchest supporter when he was on the board, just so happens to not run for reelection after his indictment was announced. Wasn’t her and her friend’s house raided for allegations related to Metro that now encompass Phil Washington while he actually thinks he’s going to be confirmed for the head of the Federal Aviation Administration? Ted Cruz may not be the most respected but he can smell the bull crap all the way in Washington DC.
Wasn’t her and her friend’s house raided for allegations related to Metro that now encompass Phil Washington while actually thinking he’s going to be confirmed for the head of the Federal Aviation Administration? Ted Cruz may not be the most respected but he can smell the bull crap we all smell in Los Angeles County from miles away.
In closing, the most compelling quote given by our new Sheriff Robert Luna went through a spokesman from the Sheriff’s department who gave lukewarm acceptance to recommendations by the oversight board that’s charged to provide civilian oversight and that should frighten everyone to our core being.
Matter of fact, why aren’t any members of the Board of Supervisors quoted in The Times article where their demands are clear of what they expect Luna to do, or is that Eileen Decker’s job who was also conveniently omitted from the story?
Marvin McCoy is a lifelong Inglewood resident and can be reached at therealmccoymarketinggroup@gmail.com or on Twitter: @MarvinM83905936 | Instagram: @therealmccoymarketinggroup