In East LA, a group of deputies named the Banditos stand accused of running the sheriff’s substation like a gang, institutionalizing a culture of fear and retaliation. And while they’re intimidating civilians and colleagues alike, they may be protected by the very top of the department.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Compton Executioners allegedly control every aspect of life at the LASD Compton substation. Gang members have been accused of assaulting fellow deputies and even killing civilians, claiming, often without evidence, that they were acting in self-defense. And although they’ve faced several lawsuits, somehow, the Executioners have evaded prosecution — and any accountability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the 1850s, Los Angeles was one of the most dangerous places to live in the West. Extrajudicial killings, unchecked racial violence, and vigilante groups like the Los Angeles Rangers prevailed. This “Wild West” culture seeped into and was propagated by the Sheriff’s Department — and it hasn't gone away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The community of Lennox in Los Angeles is just one square mile, but it has an enormous problem. Alongside violent gang activity, there’s a secret organization adding terror to the neighborhood. Their symbol? The Grim Reaper. Their ranks? Los Angeles sheriff's deputies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deputy gangs have been embedded in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department since 1971. In the first of our five-part collaboration with Parcast series Secret Societies, we delve into the earliest of these violent gangs that shaped the current culture within the LASD. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After two Melbourne constables were gunned down in 1988, police identified the Pettingills as prime suspects. The case against the notorious crime family grew, but changing testimonies, family betrayals, and the idea of a police vendetta complicated the trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She was a young barmaid who rose to be the ruthless matriarch of a Melbourne crime family in the 1980s.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the 1988 bust of his Mountain View LSD lab, William Pickard turned to academics and convinced his colleagues he was done cooking acid. In truth, he set up a new lab in a retrofitted Cold War silo and started making LSD by the kilo — becoming the drug’s largest producer in the history of the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a chemistry genius meets 1960s counterculture? After wunderkind William Pickard began taking psychedelics, he became convinced it was his duty to share his experience with the masses… and he started cooking acid.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Racketeering, gun running, contract killing… For two decades, “Whitey” Bulger was the crime king of Boston. But when the walls started to close in around him in the 1990s, he fled — leading to one of the longest manhunts in FBI history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices