EDITORIAL: In LA, the gang members might be the police

What’s happening in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is a reminder of the importance of accountability and accessibility in all aspects of government. That includes law enforcement.

Last month, the RAND Corp. released a massive report on the existence of “subgroups” within the L.A. department. A more descriptive term would be gangs or cliques. A January 2021 report from the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy found more than 15 subgroups among officers. Some started decades ago. Some are no longer active, but others are.

The known cliques include the Cowboys, the Executioners, the Grim Reapers and the Vikings. The RAND study found evidence “that several of these groups were still actively adding members at the time of our interviews.” Membership in some groups has been linked to excessive violence. Incidents involving members of the groups have led to settlements costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

It’s hard to determine exactly what’s happening in secret groups. The RAND study attempted to pull back the curtain through a survey of officers and interviews.

Some concerning responses included that being involved in an officer-involved shooting may lead to a membership invitation. So could looking the other way when another officer committed an unethical or illegal act. Others said those in the cliques might have to take on extra duties or even pay “rent to work at a station.” Such initiation rituals are obviously inappropriate.

Not all of the police cliques are equally concerning. Some are little more than social groups to build camaraderie.

The existence of these gangs is no secret. In 1992, the Kolts Commission report on police brutality included a section of deputy gangs.

The solution isn’t — as some on the left advocate — to defund the police. Eliminating police will encourage criminals and do nothing to help besieged communities. Police practices can be changed through elections, laws and public pressure. Many criminal groups remain impervious to such tools. The RAND report offers a series of recommendations that emphasize transparency.

What’s happening in Los Angeles shows the importance of public access and accountability in Southern Nevada. Reforms such as body cameras give the public confidence that the vast majority of local officers follow the law and that those who don’t can be held accountable. But those safeguards are much less useful when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department charges almost $300 for an hour of footage.

Easy access to public records builds public trust, and that’s an area in which Metro must do better.