Kamala Harris is the ‘original protector of police’: Former policeman

Kamala Harris is “the original savior of police” after overseeing the shutdown of a major anti-drug unit that kept gangs and fentanyl out of California, according to former agents with the department.

Despite frequently talking about his great experience “personally prosecuting” international criminal organizations, including This week’s CNN Town HallDuring her tenure as Attorney General in California, the Democratic presidential nominee closed down the state’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) in 2012.

“She could have fought this decision but she did not. I think her lack of action shows she wanted that to happen,” former Justice Department special agent Carrie Cavalieri told The Post. “Kamala Harris was the original defender of the police.”

Cavalieri and other former agents also called out Harris, claiming that she never actually prosecuted international drug or gang cases. He says he only presided over arrests made by state and federal agencies during his tenure.

He said the actual prosecution of cases was done by local district attorneys or federal agencies. But while Harris claimed to be a prosecutor, it appears that even after the BNE collapsed, during her two-year tenure as AG, she cracked down on serious crime.

“She was there for the photo op after it all happened,” Cavalieri said.

“In every stump speech she talks about ‘prosecuting’ these big cases,’ Sarah Campbell, a retired special agent in charge of 30 years at BNE who worked under Harris when she was AG, told The Post. told.

“That’s a lie. He did not prosecute any major drug and gang cases. This is how she has reached this position.

“She just says she did this or that and no one checks her. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

California’s BNE was established in 1927 and was the nation’s oldest drug enforcement agency.

However, once shut down it left the most populous state without its major anti-drug and anti-gang fighting force, the same year the fentanyl epidemic first rose to prominence.

“The BNE was incredibly important in the fight against cartels and traffickers,” Steve Cooley, the second-longest-serving DA in Los Angeles County, told The Post.

“They would lead various task forces, especially in smaller counties like Shasta County, where law enforcement had no expertise and the cartels were taking advantage of the situation.

“The ouster of the lynchpin agency was a major blow to the fight against drugs. Kamala Harris did not fight against it.

How and why BNE closed is a matter of debateSeveral former and current California law enforcement officials told The Post that then-Gov. Jerry Brown went against the union that represented him and cut $71 million from the law enforcement division’s budget. As a result the BNE, which at that time had 400 agents and about 50 task forces across the state, was closed down.

Others, such as Cavalieri and two former top BNE agents, believe that Harris had an active hand in ensuring BNE’s demise, even though He spoke out against the $71 million cut. When they were announced.

“It’s easy enough to pretend about something but why didn’t he fight harder? She was the Attorney General. We tried to fight it but he didn’t even lift a finger,” Cavalieri said.

Campbell said each year BNE officials make sure to appeal to the state legislature for their annual funding. But when Harris took over the AG’s office, her top aide, Larry Wallace, Who later had to resign on allegations of sexual harassmentTold Campbell not to bother contacting Sacramento about funding.

Former BNE Special Agent Campbell alleged, “Jerry Brown did not shut down BNE.” “She released a statement saying she felt there were duplicative efforts among law enforcement but it was Kamala Harris who shut down BNE. He didn’t like law enforcement.

Jerry Hunter, the now-retired assistant head of BNE, told The Post that he “blocked” a white paper, which he said was written by Wallace and which outlined the separation of BNE.

“Wallace started closing cases left and right,” Hunter said. “She said basically (Harris) doesn’t want anything to come back to haunt her.”

The giant BNE, with its powerful network of task forces and ties to federal law enforcement agencies, was key in stemming the wave of drug trafficking, former agents said.

Without it, distressed cities like Oakland are left without critical help. Current Governor Gavin Newsom had to send California Highway Patrol officers to the city this year due to rising crime rates.

A former BNE special agent said, “BNE agents must have been there during that time.” “Now Newsom has to send people who normally write traffic tickets.”

“Most of the narcotics came from the southern border,” former San Francisco-based BNE special agent Mike Fanucci told The Post. “We were the only ones fighting it in the entire state. We had 56 task forces working across the state to stop the flow of drugs. As far as I am concerned there is no gate now to stop the water from flowing.”

The California Attorney General’s Office emailed a statement to The Post explaining that when Governor Brown cut funding, parts of the BNE were folded into other programs of the California Law Enforcement Division.

A source in the AG’s office, who did not want to be identified, told The Post that there are enough state and local law enforcement agencies to fight drugs and gangs despite the end of the BNE.

Harris’s media team declined to speak to The Post on the record. However, in His 2011 inaugural address She said: “As Attorney General, I am going to lead a renewed collaborative effort against gangs and organized crime…Collaborating with our federal and local law enforcement partners to fight the gang problem is our “Will be a major focus of the work.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl overdose deaths in California are expected to increase from 82 in 2012 to 6,453 in 2022, making it the deadliest overdose from the drug in the country.

Brian Brokaw, who ran Harris’ campaign for both AG and later Senate, asserted that Governor Brown was solely responsible for eliminating BNE with budget cuts. He also said that Harris brought some of her people.

“During his six years as attorney general, he made tackling international gangs the centerpiece of his law enforcement agency,” Brokaw insisted to The Post. “He worked with law enforcement from the federal level to the local level, cooperating with them on both sides of the border.

“He prioritized the seizure of illegal firearms and illegal narcotics and dismantled human trafficking operations.”

Sarah Campbell disagreed with that claim.

“Under Harris, the AG’s office never prosecuted an international gang or human trafficking case,” Campbell said. “He only did matters that were important to him. I’m ashamed that I worked specifically on one of those cases. It’s not an investigation when you pick and choose who to prosecute. It’s about using your influence to go after what you want to get.”

Campbell said he was most embarrassed While working on the AG’s prosecution of pro-life activist David Daleiden, Which is alleged to have been encouraged by Planned Parenthood, whose executives made the film in July 2015. The case is ongoing and Daleiden could face prison time for making the video as well as making the video without permission from authorities. Fake driving license.

Larry Wallace did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.