![]() When Waldie complained to higher-ups, he said, Juarez was moved to another station for a few months. In response, Waldie alleged, Juarez retaliated by initiating a “work slowdown” at the Compton station. So he refused the request, instead giving the position to someone who did not have any gang tattoo. In early 2019, he approached Waldie with a list of other possible deputies he wanted to take over the scheduling position.īut Waldie said he believed Juarez was a tattooed member of the Executioners, and he wanted a new scheduling deputy who was not. Waldie - whose father was once an undersheriff in the same department - had been working as the operations lieutenant at Compton station for several months when he took over as the acting captain in January 2019.Īt the time, Juarez was the Compton scheduling deputy, which gave him power in choosing the training and vacation schedules for others at the station. The case that led to the weeks-long trial began in 2020, when Waldie alleged he was demoted after he “openly opposed” the Executioners’ control over the Compton station while he was acting captain there. He also said the group - commonly known as the Executioners - has no official name. In total, roughly 40 deputies have the same tattoo, he said, adding that no one has a full list of them. Specifically, he said the tattoo was a “positive thing” and that its design included the number 18 because he was the 18th person to get that tattoo. But during trial, in addition to showing his ink, he explained some of its details. ![]() Last year during depositions, Juarez refused to answer questions about his tattoo, following the advice of county counsel. One witness, Deputy Jaime Juarez, described the inking party in Pomona where he got his own tattoo and said he’d later helped decide which deputies would be invited to get a tattoo like it. Some witnesses named all the deputies they’d seen sporting the groups’ tattoos. Officials with the Sheriff’s Department said in an emailed statement Friday that they were pleased with the outcome.Ĭalifornia Special counsel urges sheriff to ban the ‘cancer’ of deputy gangsĪ new report by the Civilian Oversight Commission condemned the “cancer” of violent deputy gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and urged a ban on the secretive groups. “We are going to avail ourselves of all appropriate remedies under the law.” “We disagree with the jury’s decision, but we respect it,” said Alan Romero, the attorney who represented Waldie. But they also agreed it was unclear whether that whistleblowing activity was the reason he lost his bid to become the permanent captain of the Compton station. All 12 jurors agreed he’d acted as a whistleblower. Larry Waldie walked away from court empty-handed. On Friday morning, after less than a day of deliberations, plaintiff Lt. For more than two weeks, jurors heard about deputy gangs, saw their tattoos and logos, learned about their inking parties and listened to witnesses talk about members’ alleged control over the sheriff’s station in Compton.Īt one point, a deputy pulled up a pant leg to reveal a tattoo of a flaming skeleton gripping a rifle.īut ultimately, none of that mattered: The lawsuit itself - a $26-million whistleblower retaliation claim - was not about whether deputy gangs exist within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, but whether one man’s opposition to the so-called Executioners was the reason he couldn’t get a coveted promotion.
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