“This is not just a case about beating up a handful of cops — it's about fear through intimidation to maintain the corrupt status quo and make certain the new idealistic cops don't talk,” said Vincent Miller, an attorney representing the deputies.
That inquiry went unfinished when Alex Villaneuva, a former lieutenant in the department, unseated McDonnell and took office in early December. Villanueva, who has drawn fire from critics who worry he is rolling back reforms meant to curb deputy abuses, has at times defended deputies with station tattoos, saying they’re honorable people. And he has criticized previous administrations for allowing a broader culture of hazing to fester in the department.
A watchdog panel in 1992 pressed the Sheriff's Department to root out cliques. Two decades later, a blue-ribbon commission sharply criticized the department for turning a blind eye to the problem and allowing the fraternities to use excessive force against people in the county jails and on the streets.
, in which she claimed she had been physically and mentally harassed by some of the clique’s 80 members after refusing to go along with its “traditions and initiation rituals.”At the time, then-interim Sheriff John Scott announced he would share the results of an investigation into claims of bullying by the Banditos, yet the probe has remained confidential.
Friction in the station increased in spring and summer last year when training officers Benjamin Zaredini and Louis Granados went to a sympathetic lieutenant with their concerns about the sway the Banditos held over the station, Miller said in the claim.
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