DOJ: L.A. Sheriff's Deputies Targeted Blacks

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has agreed to make changes, after a two-year Department of Justice probe uncovered "widespread" unlawful detentions and searches of blacks, Latinos, and other residents of subsidized housing.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has agreed to make changes, after a two-year Department of Justice probe uncovered "widespread" unlawful detentions and searches of blacks, Latinos, and other residents of subsidized housing.

The two-year investigation also concluded that deputies used "unreasonable force" against handcuffed subjects and intimidated residents in conjunction with county Section 8 investigators, the DOJ announced Friday.

The announcement came as the DOJ's civil rights division said it was close to an agreement with LASD on corrective action. So far, the sheriff's department has agreed to revise its operating procedures, implement in-service training about the Fair Housing Act, update use of force policies, and increase participation in community meetings, according to the DOJ.

Blacks and to a lesser extent Latinos were more likely to be stopped and searched by deputies than whites, the DOJ found.

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