Founding location | Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department |
---|---|
Territory | Los Angeles |
Criminal activities | Police corruption |
Allies | Compton Executioners |
The Lynwood Vikings is one of several deputy gangs[1] of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), appearing to meet the legal definition of a gang[2] when taking into account the department's repeated illegal conduct.[3] The Vikings, formerly based at the now-defunct Lynwood station, are composed of sworn deputy sheriffs in the LASD.[4]
Members of the Vikings include high-ranking law enforcement officers such as Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca and Deputy LA Sheriff Paul Tanaka. Federal judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. described the Vikings as a "neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang" engaged in racially motivated hostility.[4] The 1992 Kolts Commission report stated there was a lack of evidence of racist deputy gangs, but some Viking deputies engaged in brutality and ganglike activity. Other sources have described the Vikings as a social organization.[5]