L.A. sheriff's department at center of bias case (against Lancaster public housing residents)

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

Los Angeles --

The Department of Justice is investigating the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department over allegations that deputies discriminated against subsidized housing residents, officials said Thursday.

Justice officials launched the probe into the nation's largest sheriff's department after minority residents in Lancaster and Palmdale complained of discriminatory practices, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

In June, black and Latino families filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Lancaster and Palmdale, claiming the cities tried to prevent them from using federal housing vouchers.

The lawsuit does not name the sheriff's department as a defendant but alleges that deputies conducted sweeps against residents and intimidated them. The sheriff's department provides police services for the two cities, which do not have their own police departments.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/19/BANS1KPCJL.DTL

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More info about this case: "Subsidies and Suspicion" (NY Times, Aug. 11); "Putting Out the 'Not Welcome' Mat" (The California Report, July 22)

[SoapBox]

1. More of the Police State, doing what they want...

LAPD...LACO sheriff...both have been rife with criminal and crooked activities.

The second they get run all over for criminal activity, the other Police State group does more dumb shit stuff.

...get rid of Baca, that would be the first step.