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ACW <br /> AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION <br /> FOUNDATION <br /> Southern California <br /> May 3, 2022 <br /> Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers <br /> 20 Civic Center Plaza <br /> Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> ecomment(a,santa-ana.org <br /> Via Email <br /> RE: Law Enforcement Gangs in Santa Ana Police Department <br /> Dear Mayor Sarmiento and City Councilmembers, <br /> Law enforcement gangs are a pervasive and ongoing threat to communities across California. They <br /> are a product of a culture that encourages misconduct committed against members of the public <br /> and a catalyst for further misconduct through the evasion of accountability and the fueling of an <br /> oppositional stance against the public. From Los Angeles to Vallejo, law enforcement gangs and <br /> the resulting abuse of authority and power have prompted the California Legislature to pass <br /> Assembly Bill 958, which requires law enforcement agencies to establish policies prohibiting law <br /> enforcement gangs, make participation in a law enforcement gang grounds for termination, and <br /> require the agency to disclose an officer's termination for gang involvement to another law <br /> enforcement agency during pre-employment background checks. Law enforcement gangs have <br /> also been the subject of numerous reports commissioned by local municipalities. The deputy gangs <br /> within the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (LASD) have been the focus of several <br /> reports conducted by Loyola Law School' and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.2 The <br /> reports detail the existence of eighteen deputy gangs within LASD, some of which were founded <br /> in the 1970s.3 These investigations have provided information into the misconduct, excessive and <br /> deadly force committed by LASD deputy gang members and the dangerous impact upon civilians <br /> in Los Angeles County. Law enforcement gangs in Vallejo Police Department have also been the <br /> 1 Center for Juvenile Law and Policy at LMU Loyola Law School,50 Years of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles <br /> County Sheriff's Department:Identifying Root Causes and Effects to Advocate for Meaningful Reform (2021), <br /> https://hnu.Mp.box.com/s/ho3p29qdbmn9aipgfy8dmmukjjgw5yyc. <br /> 2 Peterson, Samuel,Dionne Barnes-Proby,Kathryn E. Bouskill,Lois M.Davis,Matthew L.Mizel,Beverly A. <br /> Weidmer,Isabel Leamon,Alexandra Mendoza-Graf,Matt Strawn,Joshua Snoke,and Thomas Edward Goode, <br /> Understanding Subgroups Within the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department: Community and Department <br /> Perceptions with Recommendations for Change,(Santa Monica,CA:RAND Corporation,2021) <br /> https://www.rand.org/pubs/research reports/RRA616-I.html. <br /> 3 Center for Juvenile Law and Policy at LMU Loyola Law School,50 years of Deputy Gangs, 4, 15. <br /> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Hector 0.Villagra <br /> CHAIR Michele Goodwin VICE CHAIRS Rob Hennig and Stacy Horth-Neubert <br /> CHAIRS EMERITI Marla Stone Shari Leinwand Stephen Rohde Danny Goldberg Allan K.Jonas' Burt Lancaster" Irving Lichtenstein,MD" <br /> Jarl Mohn Laurie Ostrow* Stanley K.Sheinbaum* <br /> 'deceased <br /> ORANGE COUNTY OFFICE•765 THE CITY DRIVE, SUITE 360•ORANGE, CA 92868•T 714.450.3962•F 714.583.8046•ACLUSOCAL.ORG <br />