<story><title>L.A. County sheriff’s unit accused of targeting political enemies, vocal critics</title><url>https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-23/sheriff-alex-villanueva-secret-police</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>danhak</author><text>Back in 2018 I got into a serious car accident.  I was driving eastbound on Fountain Avenue when another car blew a red light and t-boned my Miata at full speed, crushing my entire driver&amp;#x27;s side, causing my car to spin 540 degrees, take out a stop sign and land on the front lawn of a nearby apartment building.&lt;p&gt;I got out of my car, dazed amid a cloud of air bag dust and miraculously unscathed.  I was wearing my seat belt and had my convertible top and windows all the way down.  I otherwise would surely have ended up with a face full of glass.&lt;p&gt;The other driver -- about a block away -- also got out of their car.  They took a glance at me, got back into their car and sped off.  Their car had no plates.&lt;p&gt;I called 911 and Deputy Penate of the L.A. County Sheriff&amp;#x27;s Department arrived on the scene.  His attitude toward me was immediately hostile.&lt;p&gt;I was in a completely traumatized state and had just experienced the scariest moment of my life.  As I was on the phone trying to arrange a tow, he approached me and said: &amp;quot;Do you think we could hurry this up? I&amp;#x27;d really like to have some dinner tonight.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;A few minutes later as we were waiting for the tow truck, he got out of his patrol car and approached me again, making sniffing noises: &amp;quot;Why do I smell marijuana right now, sir?  If I search your car am I&amp;#x27;m gonna find anything I&amp;#x27;m not supposed to find?&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t smoke marijuana.  There was no contraband in my car, which had been laying totaled on the side of the road with its top down for an hour.&lt;p&gt;I had just been the victim of a serious crime and here was this law enforcement officer, trying to turn me into a criminal instead of assisting me in any way.&lt;p&gt;That experience was a serious blow to my faith in law enforcement.</text></comment>
<story><title>L.A. County sheriff’s unit accused of targeting political enemies, vocal critics</title><url>https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-23/sheriff-alex-villanueva-secret-police</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>pcbro141</author><text>LA Sheriff&amp;#x27;s also have a gang called &amp;#x27;The Executioners&amp;#x27; and several other gangs operating in the force.&lt;p&gt;Cops are held to a very low standard, especially for people who we place so much trust in. I would get fired for starting a gang at my job called &amp;#x27;The Executioners&amp;#x27;.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;americas&amp;#x2F;police-gangs-la-sheriff-executioners-b1862105.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.independent.co.uk&amp;#x2F;news&amp;#x2F;world&amp;#x2F;americas&amp;#x2F;police-gan...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lamag.com&amp;#x2F;citythinkblog&amp;#x2F;morning-brief-sheriffs-department-gangs&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lamag.com&amp;#x2F;citythinkblog&amp;#x2F;morning-brief-sheriffs-d...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>