OP ED: Former police chief says we better do something quickly about extremism

SACRIFICIAL SLAM: Trump created this monster and now he wants to destroy it

When it comes to alarming, growing extremism, I have sounded a clarion call of sorts, “a strongly expressed demand or request for action.”

My urgings, if nothing else, beg people to listen carefully, prepare for what may be laying just over the horizon (if I were to use naval metaphor) or just beyond the bend, should I decide to stay on dry land.

We may be sleeping. Perhaps it is a rest we all need.

But in doing so, please understand that we are also missing that “demand of request for action.

I have been blessed to have served in law enforcement for 36 ½ years. I will get back to that shortly.

In the past two months I have provided pen-to-paper sounding a clarion call for some areas that needed to be brought out of the darkness, into the disinfectant called sunlight.

I have written about extremists within our midst.

Proud Boys serving on the executive board of the Miami-Dade County GOP. Not one Republican has issue with it.

Nor have they stood up and spoke out against rising antisemitism.

I have blasted the voters that have bought into a “Communista Communista” hiding behind each door and under every Castro Convertible.

No questions asked when the politicians offered no solutions but promised to rid Miami-Dade County of Socialism…and that was before Carlos Rivera got into some trouble dealing with the Socialist Government of Venezuela.

Go figure.

By the way, the voters also elected to the Miami-Dade Commission a Proud Boy hack.

Yes, you can’t make this up.

Then I addressed Trump’s increasingly closer ties to extremists and antisemites, but more so, the increasing apathy and lack of condemnation from Governor DeSantis and other elected officials.

There are other topics I look forward to delving into, covering a wide array of issues, as time moves on.

That takes me back to my law enforcement roots.

I have worked all aspects of police work.

I am honored, to this day, that many other cops referred to me as a “damn good street cop.”

I retired from the City of Miami Police as an Assistant Chief. I served a police chief in two states.

The one thing I did in both departments I ran was to update policies and make sound policies that would enhance the professionalism of the department but more so safeguard my officers from getting into trouble.

It is a sergeant’s job, a lieutenant’s job, a captain’s job and chief’s job to keep their cops out of trouble.

Notice I said “keep them out of trouble” . . .  NOT get them out of trouble once they get into it.

In any case, many law enforcement associates, friends, and others would often comment with statements such as (paraphrased) for such a good cop, you are pretty liberal.

Most said it lovingly.

I will say, I got into more “exciting” police work than most, primarily because I always felt one could be proactive and still professional and fair.

I may be “less conservative” than many of my brethren in blue.

I have been an NAACP member since just out of high school, and an ACLU member for close to thirty years.

I took a knee with many other Miami-Dade police chiefs in May 2020 after the George Floyd incident. It was the right thing to do.

So does labeling me a liberal, make me any less of a good law enforcement professional? I can’t see how. But that is not important.

Actually, though I acknowledge I am not quite a conservative as mot in law enforcement, I consider myself moderate.

I have disdain for both sides of the fringe. This nation will not move forward with ease, until we all come in off of the ledge.

There are areas that sound a clarion call. I am always open for a different of opinion, but it must remain respectful and anchored in fact.

Law enforcement in the United States, I will stand by this statement and will not back down from it.

There is nothing worse than a bad cop and there is nothing better than a good one.

I just want to set the record straight from the get-go. One may say “this guy is a cop. Why would I agree with him?”

To them I would say, “you’re wrong, you don’t know me that well.” To those who may say, “this guy, is a lib, to heck with him”, I would also say, “you’re wrong, you don’t know me that well.”

And that is exactly how I prefer it. I will write and give you cause to think. I surely do not expect approval or disapproval from everyone.

So what am I looking into moving forward?

I am looking into the Florida Supreme Courts debate regarding whether Marsy’s Law should apply to law enforcement officers.

I can say that I can provide argument for both sides of the issue and both arguments make sense.

The wisdom of Solomon will be needed here as this obviously cannot become a split the baby down the middle.

The judges are asking questions also indicative of tough decision making ahead. But I will delve into greater research before I can side ( with any conviction) with one opinion over the other.

Should there be a national registry for law enforcement so that a fired cop in New Jersey cannot sneak into a new state and start over with no one knowing what his/her past is? Most definitely!

What is happening now is flawed. Additionally, should there be national standards for law enforcement across the nation? Without a doubt.

I see huge problems in that Elon Musk is now overtly making political commentary rather than remain neutral, much like we all wish Clarence Thomas would.

In a Tweet Sunday, Musk wrote “ My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.” Never mind, that “Prosecute” is a verb.

Still, understand the very essence of what could take place in a divided nation, when the owner of the platform, Little Richie Rich, decides he is going to make comments that will endear him to the rightwing, Q-Anazi lunacy.

This too will require further research.

The ongoing apathy from Florida politicians in the face of growing extremism is of great concern.

In the event that Trump gets indicted, will the scorpions in the jar be unleashed onto the cities and suburbs within the Sunshine State?

Tough to say.

But one need not be Nostradamus to forecast that crap in going to go off the chain when in fact Trump is finally held accountable.

Issues concerning Miami-Dade and Broward schools with LGBTQ policies and where it stands in regards to the Parental Rights in Education Law demands further smart, well-thought-out commentary.

I don’t claim to be the smartest guy in the room but to quote Einstein, “If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.”

David Magnusson is a retired police chief with 36 ½ years of law enforcement experience having spent 30 of these years with the Miami Police Department retiring as an assistant chief. He was chief of the Havelock Police Department in the Marine Corps City of Havelock, North Carolina, home to Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. He returned to South Florida as chief of the El Portal Police Department.

He chaired the COVID and Domestic Violent Extremism Committees for the Association of Miami Dade County Chiefs of police. He teaches (facilitates) Hate Crimes, Violent Extremism, and Inclusive Policing to law enforcement agencies.

A historian, Magnusson has written on military and presidential history topics. He is a diehard baseball (St. Louis Cardinals) and boxing fan. Magnusson resides in South Florida with his wife. Their children and grandchildren are never too far away.

David Magnusson

is an opinion writer, historian and former Police Chief of El Portal, Florida and Havelock, North Carolina who served in the Miami Police Department for 30 years. He teaches inclusive policing for the Anti-Defamation League.