Full Notification

Taking Action to Address Law Enforcement Gangs and Create Lasting Cultural Change in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Sheriff Robert Luna recognizes the serious issue that deputy gangs pose to the Department and to our communities we serve. Since taking office, he has acknowledged the problem, aggressively investigated deputy gangs, and is taking all authorized and appropriate steps to address this issue. That commitment began on day one. The Sheriff understands that meaningful change requires transparency, leadership, and collaboration with oversight entities. 

The very first act the Sheriff did when he took office was to allow the Office of Inspector General back (OIG) into our building and provide them with access to our systems that were previously blocked by a previous administration. The Sheriff believes in the civilian oversight commission (COC) and working with all our multiple oversight bodies to effect change. In March 2023, the COC issued a report with 27 recommendations, of which 26 applied to the Department. Of the 26 recommendations, the Department believes it has complied with 19 recommendations, five are partially in compliance and two are not being implemented. These recommendations include the “Two Captain model” at three of our patrol stations to assist with cultural change, messaging, and community engagement.

The Sheriff expects accountability at every level and has set clear expectations for all Department employees that gang-like behavior is not tolerated. In doing so, he has met with all supervisors, every recruit class, new supervisors, and executives. He requires all new deputies to sign a pledge that they will not join a law enforcement gang or they will be fired. All Department members seeking promotion to Captain and above are asked whether they have participated in this type of activity, and whether they have a group tattoo. It is one of many items taken into consideration when evaluating candidates for promotion. It is not an automatic disqualification as other factors such as discipline and performance history are also evaluated. Department promotions are based on merit and aligned with organizational values and goals. Our Department will not promote any personnel who have exhibited behavior consistent with law enforcement gang activity as outlined in State law or Department policy.

The Sheriff created the Office of Constitutional Policing (OCP) and hired former U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker to lead our efforts to eradicate law enforcement gangs, improving compliance with court orders, and ensuring constitutional policing practices. OCP handles all inquiries into allegations of deputy gangs and cliques. They have also developed a centralized citizen complaint intake system which accepts all complaints through telephone, mail, and on-line.

In the last three and a half years, while working with our labor groups, we have issued a new policy prohibiting law enforcement gangs and updated multiple policies such as use of force, personal weapons, Tasers, hate crimes, Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), domestic violence, stops, media policies, ADA issues, emergency procedures, pursuits and several others. These changes are part of a broader effort to strengthen accountability, improve performance, and create lasting cultural change throughout the Department. Since 2022, use of force incidents have declined each year, with an average annual reduction of 7.9 percent, including an 8.4 percent decrease from 2024 to 2025. 

There are a lot of misperceptions about the law enforcement gang statue, some of those misperceptions appear to be reflected in the motion. To be clear, focusing only on group names or tattoos will not address the complex nature of this issue. To hold employees accountable, we need evidence of actual misconduct or coordinated gang-like behavior, not simply a shared name, tattoo, or association. Other policies such as the logo policy and tattoo policy are in the labor meet and confer process. These policies are important when it comes to addressing law enforcement gangs, even though much of the attention has focused on just one or two specific policies. These important changes reflect the totality of our effort to ensure professional behavior and Department-wide compliance and leadership. Learn more about our policies and reports on law enforcement gangs here: https://lasd.org/transparency/law-enforcement-gangs/.

Effective leadership is essential to sustainable change on the issue of law enforcement gangs. The Department revamped the captain’s training program, we have a monthly leadership program for command staff, created an internal focus group which includes the OIG, and we are updating other training programs throughout the Department.

The Sheriff has made risk management a top priority in reducing preventable harm & litigation costs. This includes transforming our risk management forum where every captain presents directly to leadership on key risk & litigation trends. We are finalizing a contract for a new risk management system that will provide real-time data & trend analysis on the factors driving exposure. Additionally, the Department has launched an early warning system that flags risk behavior so supervisors can step in early with training & support before small issues become serious.

The Department has held 12 community meetings throughout Los Angeles County to discuss the impact this issue has had on our communities. These meetings have given us an opportunity to listen directly to our residents, hear their concerns and experiences, and answer questions about what the Department is doing to address this issue. We have a publicly available complaint system where any member of our community who wishes to file a complaint on this issue can do so without ever having to speak to a member of the Department. The Board motion asks that this be established and it already exists. If anyone has information about current gang-like behavior within our Department, please contact us and provide as much specific information as possible, including dates, times, locations, and details about the conduct. This information will help us properly investigate the allegations and take appropriate action. File a complaint online at:  https://lasd.org/file-a-complaint/

We are sharing more information and data than ever before on our transparency webpage (https://lasd.org/transparency/) to keep our communities informed and strengthen public trust. No other Sheriff in Los Angeles County history has taken the steps that Sheriff Robert Luna has done to hold individuals accountable for gang-like behavior or instill change in the Department surrounding this decade’s old issue.
Today’s Board motion suggests that the Department has not taken meaningful action or been transparent, and it overlooks the significant progress we have made over the past three and a half years. That characterization does not reflect the work that has already been done or the commitment we have made to address these concerns. Additionally, this motion unfairly taints the hardworking, dedicated members of the Department who sacrifice and work hard every day to keep our communities safe and who have contributed to creating cultural change within our Department.

Forwarded by:  
Sheriff's Information Bureau 
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
211 West Temple Street
Los Angeles California 90012  
http://www.lasd.org    
213-229-1700  
   
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Robert Luna, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department