A look inside the hiring files

A look inside the hiring files

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department hired dozens of officers even after background investigators found they had histories of serious misconduct or poor performance.

The investigators delved into the backgrounds of 280 officers hired in 2010 when the Sheriff's Department took over patrol responsibilities for the county's Office of Public Safety.

The records show the Sheriff hired officers with histories of criminal behavior, on-duty misconduct and dishonesty, including attempting to cheat the agency's polygraph test.

Law enforcement experts say hiring people with such backgrounds puts the department's integrity at risk because officers are entrusted to testify in criminal court, make arrests and use deadly force. Criminal cases often hinge of the credibility of the officers involved.

This graphic offers a sampling of substantiated misconduct from the files, which the Sheriff's Department used to determine whether to hire the applicants. The behavior and incidents described in the records were compiled by Sheriff's investigators and forwarded to top officials, who ultimately hired all of those below.

The Times attempted to reach all the hires to seek comment. Responses of those who did reply are included with each file.