(Adding to the investigation of the behavior of Police Chief Danny Macagni in the shooting death of Albert Covarrubias Jr., One Tin Soldier believes that the public should be fully informed as to the actual character of Chief Danny Macagni.
Therefore, the previous post on this blog regarding Police Chief Danny Macagni's use of racist language ("stupid wetbacks", "damned Mexicans", "niggers" and "chinks" is re-posted here.
Check out the below Santa Maria SUN article, where 12 officers with a combined 166 years of experience with the department, are quoted.
Note that all the way back in 2005, the Santa Maria Police oficers filed a complaint with the Santa Maria City Council about Police Chief Danny Macagni's poor leadership and low morale in the department. The City Council did nothing. And now 80 percent of the officers of that same department have voted No Confidence in Police Chief Danny Macagni.
When will something be done about this?)
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What does a person even begin to say after the revelations in the November 30, 2006, issue in the Santa Maria Sun about the racist comments of the current Santa Maria Police Chief, Danny Macagni?
The accusations are shocking and take one's breath away. "Wetbacks"? "Niggers"? "Chinks"? Has this man been living under a rock somewhere to think that in this day and age the public would condone and look the oher way when a person of his position speaks this way? How ignorant. How arrogant. How heartless. And really, how stupid.
In the big cities, this kind of behavior would have a police chief fired in 24 hours after the report. The public wouldn't stand for it.
But, oh, yes, the public in Santa Maria didn't hear about the complaints when they were earlier reported to the City Council by the Police Officers Association.
The council members hid behind the screen they used when they forced former Police Chief John Sterling to retire in 2003 -- their standard excuse that only City Manager Tim Ness hires and fires the Police Chief, so it was theoretically out of their hands.
The Sun article states that a third-party examiner was hired to investigate the POA's complaints against Macagni and Ness regarding instances of retaliation and harassment, unfairness in promotions and assignments, discriminatory comments and interference in an ongoing investigation.
When asked by the Sun reporter, Kirsten Flagg, about the city's investigation, Danny Macagni said, "You should stay away from that completely . . . . You have no right to even pry into that."
When asked by Flagg if he had ever made derogatory remarks toward different races, Danny Macagni responded, "You know it's wrong, you know it's absolutely wrong to even ask these questions, because it's none of your business."
Excuse me, Danny, it IS our business. In case you don't remember, you work for us -- the citizens of this town.
ANONYMOUS COMMENT: "Police Chief Danny Macagni Should Resign"
Under Recent Comments in the right column of this blog, you'll find this comment (referring to the November 30, 2006, Santa Maria Sun article about Police Chief Danny Macagni's racist slurs, demeaning language and use of patronage to officers showing blind loyalty to him):
"This is shameful language from our police chief and he should resign at once.
"The most telling part of the article is this . . .
"At first, when asked if he has ever made derogatory remarks toward different races, Macagni declined to answer the question.
" 'You know its wrong, you know it's absolutely wrong to even ask these questions, ' he said, 'because it's none of your business. It's a personnel issue.'
The anonymous poster said: "Personnel issue? I am afraid it is a public issue if the highest ranking police officer makes derogagory remarks against members of our community and members of his own department."
The Tin Soldier agrees. Where was the public outcry for Danny Macagni to either be fired or resign? Were we all too busy getting ready for the holidays to care about supporting the men and women of our police department to bring this behavior to light? These are the men and women who risk their lives every day to protect us.
And most of all, where is our city council in doing its job to represent the citizens of our town? Oh, yes, this is that 'do nothing council' George Dailey referred to in his September 10, 2006, letter to the editor in the Santa Maria Times during the recent city council election, when he urged citizens to vote for Joan Leon and Hilda Zacarias.
These are the same city councilmembers who washed their hands (like Pontius Pilate) when former Police Chief John Sterling was forced to retire because City Manager Tim Ness wanted his own way.
Pity the poor men and women of the SMPD who risked their reputations and careers to speak truth about their boss, Police Chief Danny Macagni.
At least One Tin Soldier and an anonymous commenter salute them.
September 13, 2010 in ANONYMOUS COMMENT: "Police Chief Danny Macagni Should Resign" | Permalink | Comments (1)