Paul K. Tanaka (born 1959) is an American convicted felon, former politician, and former law enforcement officer who served with the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

until his conviction in 2016. He was convicted April 4, 2016, in Federal Court of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice. Tanaka served as

Undersheriff An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient Kingdom of England, English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions. United States In Policing ...

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

from 2011 to 2013. He was also mayor of the City of Gardena, California. His tenure has provoked controversy due to allegations of violence, corruption, and alleged membership in the

Lynwood Vikings The Lynwood Vikings is one of several deputy gangs of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD). The Vikings, formerly based at the now-defunct Lynwood station, are composed of sworn deputy sheriffs in the LASD. Members of the Vikings ...

, a deputy gang, which was described as a "neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang" by a federal judge.

Personal life

Tanaka was born at the Queen of Angels Hospital in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. At the age of 7, he and his family moved to Gardena, where he lived for 47 years. Tanaka received an accounting degree from

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. LMU enrolls over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the largest Catholic university on the west coast of the ...

and was also a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

. He served as Chief Financial Officer for the Go For Broke Foundation and the East West Players, and served on the board of the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law. Tanaka was married to Valerie Tanaka, with whom he has 2 children.

Elected official

Tanaka was active in local government since his election to the Gardena city council in March 1999. In March 2005, he was elected mayor with 62% of the vote. He was re-elected to a second term in 2009.

Law enforcement

A career law enforcement officer, Tanaka initially joined the El Segundo police department in 1980. Transferring to the LA County Sheriff's Department (LASD) two years later, he rose through the ranks, earning his stripes in 1987, and making lieutenant in 1991. Tanaka then rose from lieutenant to captain in 1999, commander in 2001 and chief in 2002. From January 7, 2005, to June 2011, he was an assistant sheriff. He is the first

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

in the position. He has been criticized for his affiliation with the

, a secret police organization, brought to light amidst police misconduct litigation in 1990, which a federal judge described as a "neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang." Tanaka is of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

descent. Sheriff

Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (born May 27, 1942) is a former American law enforcement officer and convicted felon who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justice ...

acknowledged Tanaka still has a tattoo related to the group. Tanaka was tattooed as a member of the Vikings deputy gang in 1987, while serving as a sergeant at the Lynwood station. On March 7, 1988, Tanaka was involved in a controversial killing of a

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, sparking outrage among Korean American community leaders. Hong Pyo Lee was shot and killed by Tanaka and four other deputies following a car chase. The deputies said Lee tried to run them over. The deputies were later found to have been justified in shooting by the district attorney’s office.

Los Angeles County Undersheriff (2011-2013)

Tanaka was appointed

, the

second-in-command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, f ...

at the

in June 2011 by Sheriff

. During his 2-year term as Undersheriff, the Department was dogged with several controversies. He announced his resignation on March 6, 2013.

Controversies

On October 18, 2011, at a Board meeting, Supervisors

Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a politician from Los Angeles County, California. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from District 3, an affluent district which includes the San Fernando Valley, the Westsi ...

and

Mark Ridley-Thomas Mark Ridley-Thomas (born November 6, 1954) is an American former politician and convicted felon. He spent three terms on the Los Angeles City Council from the 8th district from 1991 to 2002, and again for the 10th district from 2020 until his ex ...

held a motion to create a Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence with the mandate of reviewing the nature, depth and cause of Sheriff’s deputies’ inappropriate use of excessive force in County jails and to recommend corrective actions. In early 2011, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

launched an undercover probe at the

Men's Central Jail Men's Central Jail is a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department county jail for men in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States. Built in 1963, it is one of the oldest county jails in California. The Men's Central Jail is located ...

, to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse. The

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

's civil rights division also launched a wide-scale pattern and practice investigation into allegations that

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is a valley primarily located in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, Kern County, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated ...

deputies discriminated against minority residents who receive government housing assistance. During Tanaka's tenure as Undersheriff, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Sheriff

and top commanders, including Tanaka, for perpetuating a long-standing, widespread pattern of violence by deputies against inmates in the county jails. In September 2012, the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence issued a final report that is very critical of the Sheriff Department’s management, including Baca, Tanaka and other executive-level staff, accusing them of fostering a culture in which deputies beat and humiliated inmates, covered up misconduct and formed aggressive deputy cliques in the county jails. Tanaka was in charge of the Department's Patrol Division and its budget. The report also called for the removal of Tanaka from the chain of command supervising the jail system, for statements that Tanaka had delivered, indicating that deputies could use excessive force against prisoners and that aggressive behavior would not result in discipline. The report also noted that Tanaka had accepted campaign contributions from many department employees, furthering perceptions of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

and favoritism in promotion and assignment decisions. On March 6, 2013, Tanaka announced that he would retire as the Undersheriff, effective August 1, 2013, during an ongoing federal probe conducted by the

into widespread allegations of abuse, misconduct and mismanagement in County jails. Although his decision to resign was portrayed as being under his volition, Baca told Tanaka to step down because Tanaka had become a political liability.

Plot to hide informant

The plot to derail the federal investigation of the LASD supposedly began in August 2011, when sheriff's deputies retrieved a mobile phone from an inmate at Men’s Central Jail and were able to connect the phone to the FBI. Discovering that the inmate-turned-FBI informant was Anthony Brown, deputies had purposely hidden Brown from his FBI handlers, by moving him around different jails and changing Brown's name.

Criminal charges

On May 13, 2015, Tanaka was indicted on federal conspiracy and obstruction charges in the ongoing Los Angeles County Men's Jail corruptions investigation. Tanaka was the eighth LASD official to be criminally charged based on actions taken in the summer of 2011.

Conviction

On April 6, 2016, Tanaka was convicted on conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges by a federal jury in a case presided over by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. "The criminal charges centered on allegations that in 2011 Tanaka orchestrated a scheme to derail the FBI's jail investigation by intimidating the lead agent in the case, pressuring deputies not to cooperate and concealing the whereabouts of an inmate who was working as a federal informant." As a result, Councilman Mark E. Henderson was appointed Mayor Pro Tem and served as acting Mayor of Gardena until the March 2017 election.

Sentencing

On June 27, 2016, Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison, for civil rights abuses inside the nation's largest urban jail system. He was also sentenced to serve two years of supervised release after he is discharged from prison and pay a $7,500 fine. He faced a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. Tanaka planned to file a motion to sidestep his August 1 jail surrender deadline, and remain out on bail while he appealed his conviction. He surrendered Monday, January 16, 2017, to federal authorities in Colorado, to begin serving the prison sentence at a minimum-security camp in Englewood, Colorado. He was released on April 19, 2021.

2014 Sheriff's campaign

On August 15, 2013, Tanaka announced his candidacy to unseat his former boss, Lee Baca, as the sheriff in the 2014 election. Tanaka lost the election to Jim McDonnell, McDonnell received 49.4 percent of the vote and Tanaka received 15.1 percent to come in second.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Paul Living people 1959 births City council members of Asian descent American mayors of Japanese descent American deputy sheriffs American police officers convicted of obstruction of justice American police officers convicted of perjury California politicians of Japanese descent California Republicans Criminals from California Criminals from Los Angeles Crimes in Los Angeles Loyola Marymount University alumni Mayors of places in California People from Gardena, California Police misconduct in the United States 21st-century American criminals Date of birth missing (living people) California politicians convicted of crimes California city council members Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government