Even they didn’t get tats for each kill.
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Minor nitpick: almost exactly the military budget of Finland in 2019. In 2022, it was $5.9B [1], because (as you said very succinctly) Putin.
But fully agreed: Finland and LA have similar populations; the only way these numbers could make sense is if the LA Sheriff’s Dept was charged with all military duties for the LA region. And if there was a more powerful aggressor on LA’s doorstep.
[1] https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/FIN/finland/military-spending-defense-budget
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I mean it’s nice that they condemn it, and provide some recommendations. But is anything actually going to be done about it?
I condemn eating crappy fast food and recommend eating healthier, yet I still find myself going to McDonald’s.
I have no solutions.
I should have said more…
I mentioned that not only did Tanaka approve of the Lynnwood Vikings, he was himself a member.
But he was #2. What about #1, the now-convicted Sheriff Baca? Was he a gang member?
No (afaik)! But he was a Scientologist and he got the county to support various Scientology-based programs. I’m not sure which I dislike more, a LASD gang member or a Scientologist sheriff.
As for the sheriffs after Baca, I don’t see anything that says they had any gang affiliation. Neither of them have removed these gangs, so they at least tolerate them. It would take a bold leader to end them, especially with the difficulties in LE recruitment right now.
Edit: forgot to add, one problem that makes the sheriff situation worse is that in California, to run for sheriff, the person must be an active LEO and resident of the county. That means that, basically the only people who can run … are people who are in the sheriff’s department, or in city police departments in the same county. Someone has to run against his boss, more or less, to be sheriff. It makes reform very difficult.
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The primary “difficulties” with law enforcement recruiting right now seem to be:
- Current LEO leadership wants to recruit more of the violent, bigoted thugs they know and love. Meanwhile, actually being a violent bigoted thug in uniform is starting to bear accountability. Who wants to start a career in violent thuggery right when the trend is towards facing consequences?
- Leadership still thinks they need the same number of violent thugs (or more!) running around beating and killing BIPOC, the mentally ill, disabled people, pets, kids, and the elderly regardless of whether specialty interventions have been implemented to handle those nonviolent situations better. They need less than 10% of their current staffing to handle what they are somewhat trained for - a violent response to a violent emergency - but are unwilling to lose the status of running a department of thousands with a budget off billions. The solution is to have a department of hundred(s) with a budget of millions, but no one who wants the current job would accept, much less make those changes.
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… some people will be disciplined, and then that discipline will be reversed by an arbitrator 
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Isn’t it whackadoodle to try to think of using the, “especially with the difficulties in xx recruitment these days,” in any other profession, as an excuse to let the field be infiltrated by violent gangs?
Imagine if we heard that about childcare, also facing a workforce shortage.
Then add to that that these LEs are given deadly weapons. 
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Substitute “neurosurgeon” for “law enforcement.”
“An independent investigation has found that there are over a dozen gangs among neiurosurgeons in the Kaiser Permanante hospital network. These gangs have initiation rites that include parties when a member kills a patient during surgery. They have tattoos celebrating each kill. The also commit violence against rival neurosurgeon gangs. The last three CEOs of Kaiser Permanente have either tolerated or actively encouraged these neurosurgeon gangs.”
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Ben Carson has entered the chat.
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Goes into detail:
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