LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Concern is growing over a supposed secret clique of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who brand their members with matching skull tattoos. The revelation this week that a deputy admitted to getting inked two years ago as part of a ritual within the LASD Compton station has raised concerns that deputy cliques, long part of a controversial agency subculture, have persisted despite the department’s reform efforts, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Some members of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission are calling on LASD to investigate the issue. Hernan Vera, who serves on the SCOC, said the deputy’s admission in a lawsuit over a fatal shooting that he and as many as 20 others have the signature tattoos was “thoroughly disturbing,” The Times reported. The latest revelations, detailed this week by the Times, center on a deposition given in May by Deputy Samuel Aldama, who described under oath a tattoo on his calf featuring a skull in a military-style helmet bearing the letters CPT, for Compton, along with a rifle, encircled by flames. He said he got the tattoo in June 2016, about two months before he was involved in the fatal shooting of Donta Taylor, The Times reported. Sheriff Jim McDonnell said that for the last year, the department has been examining deputy tattoos, logos and symbolism within the organization, but he hasn’t launched a new investigation into the Compton station deputies. He said there is also a separate administrative investigation into the shooting, which may address the deputy’s admissions. The department has a history of clandestine groups with names like the Regulators, Grim Reapers and Jump Out Boys that have been accused of promoting highly aggressive tactics and perpetuating a code of silence among members. Nearly 30 years ago, a federal judge said the Vikings club was a “neo- Nazi, white supremacist gang. (©2018 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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Revelation About LA Deputies’ Secret Clique Sparks Calls For Investigation
