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Los Angeles Sheriff Department Sued For ‘Widespread Pattern Of Violence’ Against Inmates

The ACLU filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department alleging “widespread abuse against inmates.” According to the 77-page suit, Sheriff Lee Baca and other officials allowed deputies to beat non-resisting inmates and allowed jailers to form “gangs that identified themselves with tattoos” and use “ritual beatings of inmates to win prestige with fellow deputies.” The department has been accused of such abuses “for decades,” even before Baca was elected in 1998. The ACLU reported on the abuse last year, spurring the FBI to launch its own investigation into the department. Baca acknowledged that “the department could improve” and began hearing inmates’ complaints and installing cameras in jails to deal with the violence. The department spokesman still insists however that “there is no gang mentality in our jails.”

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