Lynwood Vikings
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 Logo of the Lynwood Vikings | |
| 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). The Vikings, formerly based at the now-defunct Lynwood station, are composed of sworn deputy sheriffs in the LASD.[2]
Members of the Vikings have included 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.[2] 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.[3]
The first deputy gang in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), the Little Devils, was founded at the East L.A. Station in 1971 and had an overwhelmingly white membership among deputies who patrolled African American and Latino communities.[3] The Lennox-based Grim Reapers and the Century Station-based Regulators are more recent gangs. Other LASD gangs have included the Hats, the Jump Out Boys, the 2000 Boys, and the 3000 Boys.[2][4]
The 1992 Kolts Commission on police brutality found that cliques like the Vikings were found especially in areas of Los Angeles with large minority populations,[3] but did not "conclusively demonstrate the existence of racist deputy gangs."[3] Former Sheriff Lee Baca, while objecting to police gang behaviors, has stated that banning them would be unconstitutional.[3]