Biden administration dismissal of former Bay Area police chief Chris Magnus exemplifies undermining of change leaders.
The next time you see a video of a horrific violent act by a police officer or read of a shocking scandal in law enforcement, you may find yourself asking how this keeps happening despite repeated cycles of protest and promises of change. When that moment comes, remember the forced resignation last month of U.S. Customs and Border Protection head Chris Magnus.
The agency’s own finding this year that Border Patrol agents on horseback used unjustified force against Haitian immigrants while shouting insults about Haiti was just the most recent abuse of power. Agents have been involved in both immigration- and drug-related corruption, violent attacks on immigrants, including rapes, and inhumane treatment of people caged in overcrowded agency facilities.
Last year, a congressional investigation found that CBP reduced discipline for agents who posted violent, misogynistic and racist posts to a 9,500-member Facebook page that, although secret to the public, was known to CBP officials for three years before reported publicly. The Biden administration knew what they were getting when they hired Magnus. When he was chief in Tucson, his department stopped taking federal funds to militarize local police to act as border agents, and he put his opposition to Trump’s immigration policies in writing.
I have seen these dynamics play out in countless law enforcement agencies in my years of police reform efforts. Power structures, whether certain police unions or informal officer cliques and gangs, that become so used to operating above the law that they feel entitled to do so, don’t relinquish that power without a fight. Political leaders then try to placate anti-reformers by removing the same change-makers they brought on to make change.
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