COMPTON, Calif. — She solely has a couple of weeks left in workplace, however Compton Mayor Aja Brown isn’t completed fairly but. In certainly one of her remaining press conferences in workplace, she took goal on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division.
The town introduced a declare for damages in opposition to the county, alleging sheriff’s deputies defrauded town out of thousands and thousands of {dollars} by incorrectly logging hours.
Brown stated the alleged “minutes fraud” resulted in fewer deputies on patrol on the station, slower response instances and elevated crime. The allegations stem from a whistleblower letter despatched to town again in February. Brown says anecdotal reviews from residents assist the claims.
“The variety of complaints from residents over a scarcity of responsiveness has skyrocketed,” Brown instructed Spectrum Information 1.
Compton officers and their authorized group stated the allegations embody conspiracy and might be turned over to the district legal professional’s workplace for potential prison prices. They described the declare as a precursor to a lawsuit.
The “minutes fraud” accusations come on the heels of a deputy gang scandal in Compton, the place a separate whistleblower, Deputy Artwork Gonzalez, claimed beneath oath a tattooed deputy clique referred to as the “Executioners” ran the station. He stated deputies needed to be concerned in a taking pictures to hitch the clique, which led to extra aggressive ways in addition to proof tampering by deputies in Compton.
“If you’re concerned in a taking pictures, historical past will present they get inked. We name it ‘ink-chasers’ as a result of they’re on the market making an attempt to indicate the remainder of the members that they’re worthy of that tattoo,” Gonzalez stated.
Final 12 months, Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated he relieved two deputies of obligation and transferred six others from the station. At a press convention Wednesday, Villanueva stated the allegations from Gonzalez are nonetheless beneath investigation and sure overblown.
“If somebody can discover one, a gang member who wears tan and inexperienced, please let me know. They only don’t exist,” Villanueva stated.
Relating to the declare alleging extreme billing in Compton, Villanueva stated his division is doing an audit and really boosted the variety of deputies working within the metropolis through the pandemic.
“I don’t suppose it’s going to be the grand conspiracy that the outgoing mayor of Compton needs it to be however we’ll positively take the allegations significantly and we’re already doing an intensive audit on it and we’ll take motion primarily based on the outcomes of that,” Villanueva stated.
Mayor Brown’s high-profile battle with the sheriff began final 12 months, when she accused deputies of inappropriate conduct stemming from a 2019 visitors cease the place they searched her automobile.
“My rights have been violated. I used to be disrespected by deputies who don’t have any ties, no information or any respect for this group,” she stated on the time.
She declined to show her video of the incident over to the sheriff’s division however requested an inside investigation into her claims.
Virtually a 12 months later, she says her report has gone nowhere.
