LOS ANGELES — When Sgt. Jefferson Chow started investigating a fight between deputies assigned to the East L.A. sheriff’s station, he was instructed by a supervisor to question witnesses about groups of deputies that behaved something like street gangs.
But, within a few weeks, that instruction changed. The sergeant was told questions about the Banditos or other similar groups in the department didn’t need to be part of his investigation, according to a log Chow kept.
The about-face in late 2018 came as Alex Villanueva, who had recently been elected sheriff, was beginning to exert his control over the department.
