A top Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department[1] official has resigned amid mounting criticism over emails he sent mocking[2] Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women and others from his work account during his previous job with the Burbank Police Department, the Sheriff 's Department announced Sunday.
After previously saying that he had no immediate plans to discipline his chief of staff, Sheriff Jim McDonnell[3] said in a statement that he had accepted Tom Angel's resignation.
"This incident is one that I find deeply troubling," McDonnell said. "Despite the Sheriff's Department's many recent efforts to fortify public trust and enhance internal and external accountability and transparency, this incident reminds us that we and other law enforcement agencies still have work to do. I intend to turn this situation into a learning opportunity for all LASD personnel."
McDonnell said he would introduce random audits of department email accounts and would be meeting with various community groups to "share thoughts and ideas about improving our understanding of the varied cultures and orientations and deepening our appreciation of the many ethnicities and religions that are part of the vibra nt fabric of the population we serve." The department will also examine its training and existing policies for "ensuring accountability and enhancing cultural and ethnic sensitivity and professionalism among our personnel."
Angel's resignation came after The Times published emails[4] obtained under the state's open records act. The emails prompted numerous civil rights advocates to call on the sheriff to take action against his chief of staff, with several calling on him to be fired.
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McDonnell was elected in November 2014 as an outsider promising to steer the agency past an era in which some deputies beat jail inmates and others were found to have singled out African Americans and Latinos in the Antelope Valley for harassment. He brought Angel, a veteran sheriff's official, back from Burbank as a key member of his reform administration.
Angel could not immediately be reached for comment on Sunday. He previously told The Times that he did not mean to embarrass or demean anyone. He said it was unfortunate that his work emails could be obtained by the public under the state's records laws.
The emails were sent in 2012 and 2013 when he was the No. 2 police official in Burbank. There, too, he had been brought in to reform an agency reeling from misconduct in its ranks, including allegations of brutality, racism and sexual harassment.
"I took my Biology exam last Friday," said one of the emails, which The Times obtained from the city of Burbank under the state's public records law. "I was asked to name two things commonly found in cells. Apparently 'Blacks' and 'Mexicans' were NOT the correct answers."
Another email ridiculed concerns about the racial profiling of Muslims as terrorism suspects. A third included the subject line "How dumb is dumb?" and listed 20 reasons "Muslim Terrorists are so quick to commit suicide," including "Towels for hats," "Constant wailing from some idiot in a tower" and "You can't wash off the smell of donkey."
Four of the emails contained strings of jokes that Angel received and then forwarded. A city spokesman said the other senders and recipie nts were redacted because they did not work for the city, and releasing their identities would be an invasion of privacy.
A fifth email was a short dialogue between Angel and another Burbank police official in which Angel asked what he called a trivia question: "How many virgins do Muslims get in heaven?"
The Angel emails echo recent controversies in other cities. In San Francisco and Ferguson, Mo., police officials who sent racially derogatory emails or text messages were put on leave or fired.
Shortly after the announcement that Angel had stepped down, L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis released a statement praising McDonnell for his work to reform the Sheriff's Department but cautioning that "there is still much work to be done."
"We must move forward and strive for a law enforcement work culture that values diversity and promotes tolerance," she said.
Twitter: @cindychangLA[7]
Tchekmedyian writes for Times Community News.
ALSO
Assistant sheriff credited with curtailing the worst abuses in L.A. County jails is leaving[8]
Tanaka convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges[9]
Protests rage outside Trump rally in Orange County; 17 arrested, police car smashed[10]
References
- ^ L.A. County Sheriff's Department (www.latimes.com)
- ^ emails he sent mocking (documents.latimes.com)
- ^ Jim McDonnell (www.latimes.com)
- ^ The Times published emails (www.latimes.com)
- ^ NEWSLETTER: Get essential California headlines delivered daily >> (www.latimes.com)
- ^ @atchek (www.twitt er.com)
- ^ @cindychangLA (www.twitter.com)
- ^ Assistant sheriff credited with curtailing the worst abuses in L.A. County jails is leaving (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Tanaka convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges (www.latimes.com)
- ^ Protests rage outside Trump rally in Orange County; 17 arrested, police car smashed (www.latimes.com)
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