Deputies who responded to Kobe Bryant's helicopter crash site and took pictures of the remains were given a secret way out without repercussion ... TMZ has confirmed.
Law enforcement sources tell us ... in the days after the crash, top brass at the department was aware some of their lower-level deputies had snapped shots of the scene as well as of the remains found, and were showing them to people in and out of the department.
We're told a message was relayed to the Lost Hills substations and possibly others as well .