Fort Lauderdale police chief removed as officers face scrutiny over protest brutality

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Rick Maglione was removed Thursday as chief of the embattled Fort Lauderdale Police Department, an agency rocked in recent weeks by what some perceive as missteps by its top leader — including a July 4 message that criticized protesters and hailed his officers as heroes.

Maglione, chief since January 2017, will stay on with the department in another role.

Maglione’s tenure as police chief was rocked by the street protests that erupted after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

A May 31 protest against police brutality in downtown Fort Lauderdale devolved into a hectic melee between officers bristling with long guns, gas masks, and stun grenades and protesters armed with chants, slogans and water bottles.

Body-camera footage, obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel in response to a public records request, shows officers aiming at protesters who had their hands up. Some officers seem to revel in the act of shooting less than lethal munitions at protesters, saying “get that motherf---er” and “pop his ass.”

As the police chief was removed, Fort Lauderdale City Manager Chris Lagerbloom has only said it is time for change. “I’ve decided to make a change because it is time for the department to have new leadership and a fresh perspective,” he said in a text to the Sun Sentinel.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told the Sun Sentinel. “Been here 29 years. I appreciate the opportunity to serve as chief. And I hope the community continues to support the great men and women of the police department.”

Maglione also declined to say what led to his removal.

“It’s not about me,” he said. “The department is bigger than me. I will continue to love and support the department, just like I did the day I got hired.”

The department’s actions also came under scrutiny because one of its officers was recorded shoving a kneeling protester during the May 31 demonstration.

Officer Steven Pohorence was relieved of duty after the chaotic clash, when social media video emerged showing him shoving Jada Servance, another protester, forcefully to the ground. Servance had neck and shoulder injuries. Pohorence was charged with misdemeanor battery on July 1 by the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

The fallout from the protest-turned-teargas-choked riot was not limited to individual injury.

During the investigation into Pohorence, the department revealed that its Office of Internal Affairs had not been reviewing all the body camera footage during investigations of use-of-force incidents and citizen complaints.

That revelation came about only because Christine Currie, chairwoman of the Fort Lauderdale citizen police review board, requested body cam footage from several use-of-force incidents involving Pohorence.

At the same protest, LaToya Ratlieff, a demonstrator from Delray Beach, was shot in the face with a rubber bullet fired by Detective Eliezer Ramos. She later testified before Congress about police use of force.

Ratlieff praised the city on Thursday for removing Maglione.

“I commend the city for taking this important first step in the right direction,” she said. “Fort Lauderdale needs a chief of police who is committed to bringing about the change that is needed within the department.”

On July 4, Maglione sent out a statement defending his officers and complaining that “law enforcement as a whole has been unfairly vilified.”

He went on to say “we all need to understand the difference between mistakes and misconduct because they are nothing alike. Misconduct involves intent … mistakes require understanding, leniency, training and an apology with an effort to do better moving forward.”

Vice Mayor Steve Glassman said the commission knew Maglione’s removal was coming but declined to say what was behind the decision.

In a video statement released about 1 p.m., Lagerbloom thanked Maglione: “His experience and knowledge of 28 years on the force is valuable to the city.”

Lagerbloom has tapped Assistant Chief Karen Dietrich to serve as interim chief while the city conducts a search for a new police chief.

Maglione’s predecessor, Frank Adderley was the department’s first African American police chief, a post he held from 2008 through 2016.

But in 2012, Adderley was criticized by Howard Finkelstein, Broward County’s Public Defender. Finkelstein and his staff accused Fort Lauderdale police of arresting people, most of whom were Black, for riding unregistered bicycles and not using sidewalks where there weren’t any. Many of the cases were dismissed.

Finkelstein said Thursday he was not surprised by Maglione’s ouster.

“The county has changed dramatically in the past five to 10 years,” he said. “The behavior of the police, in times past, would have been applauded. But you have a new demographic, a new city commission, a new sensibility than in decades past.”

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