Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva sent a cease-and-desist letter this week to the Board of Supervisors, demanding they and others stop using the phrase “deputy gangs” to refer to secretive groups that operate within department stations. “This willful defamation of character has injured both individuals and the organization,” Villanueva wrote in the letter, dated Wednesday. “Using this term as a blanket statement,” he wrote, “is political cowardice and opportunistic pandering.”None of the five county supervisors provided a comment by Thursday night. Huntsman last month requested that Villanueva provide the names and contact information of any potential member of a “deputy gang” to aid the inspector general’s investigation into the groups. “Deputy Gonzalez retained this office to try and salvage his career due to being retaliated against by the deputy gang and its sympathizers at the highest levels in the Department,” Romero said.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 18, 2022 11:21 UTC