Malibu Pushes Back Against Deputy Gang Plan

MALIBU, CA — The City Council on Monday voiced its opposition to part of a plan by sheriff's oversight officials that's meant to address deputy gangs and cliques in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

The Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission in February issued a report that claims to have found evidence of the existence of deputy gangs — defined in the report as groups of deputies "engaged in egregious conduct such as violations of law, the excessive use of force, [and] threats to the public or department members" — and deputy cliques, which include both gangs and other "exclusionary subgroups."

The report includes several recommendations for the Sheriff's Department to address the issue. Among them is a plan that would rotate deputies between stations at a cadence of no less than every five years.

The City Council voted unanimously to take an official position of opposition to the rotation plan. Malibu officials will send a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Robert Luna and the oversight commission detailing the reason for their opposition:

"We believe that rotating the deputies currently assigned to the sheriff’s Malibu/Lost Hills Station will disrupt the strong bonds and relationships that local deputies have built, which have been critical to our station’s success," the letter reads. "By requiring deputies to be reassigned every five years, this recommendation would be depriving our community of experienced and trusted law enforcement personnel with the specific institutional knowledge required to effectively serve the unique and diverse needs of our community."

Malibu's action comes as the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the union representing deputies, has been pushing for cities around LA County to send similar letters of opposition.

The Agoura Hills City Council recently considered sending a letter of opposition, but instead decided to revisit the matter in order to tweak its reccomendation.