LA sheriff watchdogs alarmed about new claims of secret deputy clique at Compton station
LOS ANGELES - Some members of a Los Angeles County watchdog panel are calling on Sheriff Jim McDonnell to launch a thorough investigation into allegations of a secret society of deputies that brands its 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 Compton station has raised concerns that deputy cliques, long part of a controversial agency subculture, have persisted despite the department's reform efforts.
Hernan Vera, who serves on the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, 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
