LOS ANGELES — LAX Chief of Airport Police and candidate for Los Angeles County Sheriff, Cecil Rhambo, is fiercely denying accusations from Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s campaign he was a member of a deputy gang while employed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Rhambo was a 33-year department veteran who later became the city manager of Compton before running the airport police department.

The sheriff’s department has been plagued by lawsuits and allegations that deputies have formed secret, tattooed subgroups within stations for 50 years. In September, the Board of Supervisors directed the Civilian Oversight Commission to develop a plan to eradicate deputy gangs.

What You Need To Know

  • The sheriff’s department has been plagued by lawsuits and allegations that deputies have formed secret, tattooed subgroups within stations for 50 years

  • Last week, Sheriff Villanueva’s campaign manager Javier Gonzalez texted members with the message “(Rhambo) seems to know a lot about these so-called gangs and cliques. Could it be that he was in one himself?"
  • Neither of Chief Rhambo's tattoos are associated with a documented deputy subgroup or gang
  • Villanueva said he has banned deputy subgroups that engage in misconduct, but his employees have a constitutional right to associate and express themselves through tattoos, as long as they are not visible while in uniform

Rhambo told Spectrum News 1 if he’s elected, he would cooperate with all local, state and federal investigations and root out the department’s deputy gang problem.

Last week, Villanueva’s campaign manager Javier Gonzalez texted members of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party a photo from the 1980’s of a uniformed Rhambo holding his hands to form the letters “c” and “s” with the message “he seems to know a lot about these so-called gangs and cliques. Could it be that he was in one himself?”

In response to questions from the Los Angeles Times and Spectrum News 1, Rhambo’s campaign then sent a video showing he has two tattoos, his daughter’s name in Chinese characters and a dragon on his back. Neither tattoo is associated with a documented deputy gang.

“Unfortunately, this is eerily reminiscent of a time in which people of color had to be examined like cattle before sale but I felt compelled, because they said he may have tattoos that depict deputy gang involvement,” Chief Rhambo said.

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Villanueva said he has banned deputy subgroups that engage in misconduct, but his employees have a constitutional right to associate and express themselves through tattoos, as long as they are not visible while in uniform. He also underplayed the violence associated with deputy cliques.

“When I was working patrol in East LA, there was a group called ‘the cavemen.’ I worked side-by-side with them, I was not invited, (I) did not get the tattoo. There was no difference between what I did and what they did,” Villanueva said at a press conference in September.