Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department knowingly hired bad cops

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department knowingly hired bad cops

An internal report shows that many of the officers hired by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department have a history of misconduct and incompetence

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

By Your Black World

     According to the Los Angeles Times, the “Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hired dozens of officers even though background investigators found they had committed serious misconduct on or off duty.”

Most of the hires were made in 2010 after the Sheriff’s Department took over patrols from a smaller L.A. County police force. Officers from the smaller area were given the first opportunity to apply for jobs at the Sheriff’s Department.

The investigation discovered that of the 280 officers hired, 100 had histories ranging from dishonesty, mistakenly firing a weapon, falsifying police records and even soliciting a prostitute and assault.

Another 15 were caught cheating on their polygraph exams. In addition, at least 20 of those who were hired had either been fired or pressured to resign from their previous jobs as police officers.

David McDonald, 28, says he admitted to interviewers that he groped and kissed a 14 year old but was still hired.”I was in love,” he told The Times. “I wasn’t being a bad guy.”

McDonald had been fired from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department over allegations that he used excessive force on prisoners. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department made McDonald a jail guard. Not surprisingly, McDonald has been disciplined for his use of force while working as a guard.

The hiring report also shows that officers are often accused of crimes for which they are never prosecuted or held accountable. One new hire had even been arrested for assault with the intent to rape and murder but was never convicted.

Sheriff Lee Baca declined to comment. His spokesman says he was not aware of the back-grounds of the new hires.