Existence of LA Sheriff's Secret Clique Investigated

An investigation into a secret clique within the Los Angeles County sheriff's elite gang unit has uncovered allegations that members had matching tattoos of a gun-toting skeleton, which deputies would modify to celebrate their involvement in a shooting, it was reported today.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's provides police services to the city of Diamond Bar.

A deputy who has admitted belonging to a clique called the "Jump Out Boys" has identified about half a dozen other deputies as members, a source close to the internal investigation told the Los Angeles Times. Those men are expected to be summoned for interviews with internal affairs investigators.

Suspicion about the group's existence was sparked several weeks ago when a supervisor discovered a pamphlet laying out the group's creed, which promoted aggressive policing and portrayed officer shootings in a positive light, The Times reported in an article posted on its website.

The pamphlet was found in the vehicle used by the deputy who acknowledged his association with the clique, according to sources who requested anonymity, The Times reported. Internal affairs investigators are trying to determine whether the deputies violated Sheriff's Department rules or committed serious misconduct.

The deputies under scrutiny work on the Gang Enforcement Team, a unit divided into two platoons of relatively autonomous deputies whose job is to target neighborhoods where gang violence is high, locate armed gang members and take their guns away, according to The Times.

The clique's tattoo features an oversize skull and a bony hand clasping a revolver. Investigators suspect that smoke is tattooed over the gun's barrel after a member is involved in a shooting.