The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department on Sunday announced that a
top official had resigned after the Los Angeles Times reported that the
official sent numerous emails to other personnel that included racist
and sexist content. Photo courtesy Los Angeles Sheriff's
Department/Facebook
LOS ANGELES, May 2 (UPI) -- A
top official in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has quit the
force after it was reported that he sent numerous emails with his
official account that jokingly mocked Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women
and others, authorities said.
The office of Sheriff Jim McConnell announced Sunday that
chief of staff Tom Angel had submitted his resignation on the heels of a
report in the Los Angeles Times that expressly detailed some of the sensitive emails.
McConnell wrote a lengthy post to his office's Facebook account Sunday outlining the controversy.
Before joining the sheriff's office, Angel was a deputy
police chief in nearby Burbank. Officials said he sent the emails in
2012 and 2013, during his time there.
"Very recently I learned that three to four years ago LASD
Chief Tom Angel shared inappropriate and unprofessional e-mails with
others, during his service as Burbank Police Department Assistant
Chief," McConnell's post read. "This incident is one that I find deeply
troubling. Chief Angel has offered his resignation, and I have accepted
it. I thank him for his many years of service, and wish him and his
family well."
One email mentioned a history of violence committed by Muslim suspects, including the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. The email, which appeared to have been forwarded multiple times, also states, "Muslims, gotta love em, can't punish em."
The email's content, of which the author is unknown,
included another statement that reads, "No, I really don't see a pattern
here to justify profiling, do you?"
The Times obtained the emails through an open records request.
"This incident reminds us that we and other law enforcement
agencies still have work to do," McConnell wrote on Facebook, also
outlining steps his office will take to mitigate similar behavior in the
future.
"We will be meeting with constituent groups throughout the
county to share thoughts and ideas about improving our understanding of
the varied cultures and orientations and deepening our appreciation of
the many ethnicities and religions that are part of the vibrant fabric
of the population we serve. We will also examine our current training
framework and evaluate our curriculum in these areas to maximize their
effectiveness.
"In addition, we will assess existing policies and systems
for ensuring accountability and enhancing cultural and ethnic
sensitivity and professionalism among our personnel. For example, we
will implement a new system of random audits of the e-mail accounts of
Department personnel."
McConnell, elected sheriff in 2014, finished the post by saying state
and national law enforcement communities need to hold themselves to a
higher standard.
"The law enforcement profession must and can demand the
highest standards of professionalism, fairness and constitutional
policing -- individually and collectively -- from its personnel," he
wrote. "We are only as effective as the relationships, credibility and
trust we have with our community; this is a fundamental point that I and
LASD personnel take very seriously."
Upset advocates demanded that Angel be fired or resign.
Angel himself told the Times that he didn't mean to embarrass or demean
anyone. He added that he believed it was unfortunate that his work
emails could be obtained by the public under the state's records laws
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