I read the most ridiculous headline the other day that addressed gang activity in law enforcement, as if we, members of the Black and Brown community didn’t know about the culture of gang activity in law enforcement. We’ve known for years that law enforcement agencies all over this country has within its ranks, a group of straight-out hoodlums and gangsters—a tradition going back as far as those two gang members, Wyatt Earp, and his gangster brother, Virgil. For me, this culture of police gangsterism goes so much deeper than deputies and their gang tattoos, and what makes this behavior so dangerous is that it’s not only pathological, but it is also pathogenic.
I better make my point before my, “Thank you for your service” patriots stop reading and accuse me of being one of those defund the police folks. There is no way in hell that I would ever say something as crazy as for us to defund the police! Who would I call when something jumps off, YOU?
You do remember when those seven (we all know that there were more) Los Angeles County Deputy gang members that got fired for having a turf war—oh, you forgot? Well, let me remind you. It was December 2010. Deputies working at Men’s Central Jail were having their annual Christmas party on what was supposed to be neutral turf, the Quiet Cannon Banquet Hall in Montebello. Well, after the alcohol had taken over and there were no innocent civilians for these so-called ‘officers of the law’ to beat up on, these fools decided to cannibalize one another. This group of morons started a turf war with each other—fighting over which floor in the jail had the toughest deputies. I guess they measure how tough they are by the number of unarmed inmates without the capacity to defend themselves, that they have, and or can and will abuse.
Could it be that the county jail and rogue stations are breeding grounds for the cancer of human abuse in law enforcement, and it metastasizes to the streets of Black and Brown communities? And isn’t it interesting that, that same cancer (abusive officers) is never diagnosed in places like Malibu, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Santa Clarita, Palisades, Palos Verdes, West LA, and other affluent areas. Well, let’s be honest. It’s not that those areas are immune from the cancer (abusive officers), it’s just that when there is an outbreak in those areas, its victims seem to always be nonresidents. I guess all the residents of Malibu, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Santa Clarita, Palisades, Palos Verdes and West LA got the vaccine—so where do I get the shot?
With over 100 people in attendance at the party, a fight broke out in the parking lot, and seven deputies (gang members) got fired, yet nobody got arrested? While we all know if two negros started arguing with one another in that same parking lot, there’s a strong probability that one of those brothers may get shot by those same deputies and almost guaranteed that both would get their ass beat both in the parking lot as well as when they got to jail. As a people and a community, we’ve known for decades that not just the Sheriff’s Department has had and has gang members within its ranks.
Last week, the union representing the Los Angeles County sheriff deputies elected to its board of directors, Mr. Jason Zabala. What’s of great concern to me is that in Mr. Zabala’s 21-year history of working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, he has been involved in an on-duty crash that left a woman with spinal injuries; the case was settled for $80,000. Mr. Zabala and his partner stopped an unarmed man riding a bicycle and ended up shooting him as he lay face down in his own backyard. The man’s family received a $1.5 million settlement. After that, our dear brother Zabala was involved in the killing of a 28-year-old schizophrenia man who was shot 36 times in 2018—his family received a $2.5 million settlement. Sounds like to me, if you want your family to get rich, you need not purchase a lotto ticket, just have a run-in with deputy Zabala.
I’m sure you guys have heard about the issue of deputies and their gang tattoos that distinguish which set they are from; street gangs got colors; deputies got tattoos. Sheriff deputy gangs consist of the Executioners, with their tattoo being a skull with Nazi imagery and an AK-47. And then there’s the Banditos, with their tattoo being a skeleton, outfitted with a sombrero, bandolier and pistol. I would be willing to bet anyone that there are more… these are just the ones that we know about.
It seems our newly elected union representative for the Los Angeles County sheriff deputies’ board of directors, Mr. Zabala, seems to be a proud member of the Banditos. When asked about his tattoo, he said the tattoo only represents the station that he once worked at and that the number 140th on it, only means that he was the 140th gang member (my words) person to get that tattoo. He went on to say that the tattoo harkins back to the Old West, honoring the Sheriff’s Department’s founding in 1850—can you say Wyatt Earp and his gangster brother Virgil. I told you; this isn’t a new phenomenon in law enforcement and Mr. Zabala seems to know his history.
The courts blocked the county watchdog investigation into sheriff deputy gangs and tattoos, so we may not be able to ask deputies to show their tattoos; however, we can investigate those stations that gave birth to them. Can we investigate the number of officers involved in shootings, officer involved fatalities, and the number of community complaints for excessive force in those stations that’s known to be safe havens for the Executioners and the Banditos? Don’t get it twisted, I’m not anti-police. I have a ton of friends who are members of law enforcement from LAPD, LASD, FBI, US Marshalls, United States Secret Service, and a few Mall Security Guards. What I am is anti-criminal police behavior. I’m not naive nor am I stupid. Most of us with an IQ over twelve should have a healthy suspicion of the incoming Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs board member, Mr. Zabala.
I’ve always said that the beginning of healing is to first acknowledge that you’re sick. Sheriff Luna, it’s going to take more bold action and decisive steps, than just to acknowledge the need to eliminate deputy gangs from the department. Although it’s a start, his predecessor refused to even acknowledge that it was a problem and that gang activity within the sheriff’s department never existed. Now that we’ve acknowledged this sickness, let’s work on forging a promising future that can be done. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, “We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.” Sheriff Luna, lets get them vaccinated!
