L.A. Now Live: Sheriff’s deputies hired despite past misconduct

Join Times staff writers Robert Faturechi and Ben Poston for a L.A. Now Live discussion at 9 a.m. about their report detailing how the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hired officers with histories of misconduct.

Internal records show that despite background investigations that revealed wrongdoing, incompetence or poor performance, the department hired dozens of problem applicants in 2010.

The hires were made in 2010 after the department took over patrols of parks and government buildings from a little-known L.A. County police force. Officers from that agency were given first shot at new jobs with the Sheriff’s Department.

INTERACTIVE: A look inside the hiring files

The Times reviewed the officers’ internal hiring files, which also contained recorded interviews of the applicants by sheriff’s investigators.

Ultimately, about 280 county officers were given jobs, including applicants who had accidentally fired their weapons, had sex at work and solicited prostitutes, the records show.
Join Faturechi and Poston online at 9 a.m. as they answer questions from readers.