Several Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies have been relieved of duty in connection with a federal investigation, authorities said Tuesday night.
The Sheriff's Department confirmed the move was tied to an investigation “involving the U.S. Attorney's Office,” but declined to provide information on the exact number of officers or the nature of the investigation.
Federal prosecutors declined to comment Tuesday night. An FBI spokesman said the agency neither confirms nor denies the existence of investigations “as a matter of longstanding policy.”
Several sources within the department, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, said one of the officers who had been relieved of duty had worked in the Aero Bureau, while two others were detectives. One of the detectives had worked in the Operation Safe Streets Bureau, which investigates street gangs, the sources said.
The department said it was cooperating with the investigation, which is ongoing.
