Justin Tackett’s troubling history of warrantless searches, falsified reports and insubordination as a sheriff’s deputy in Imperial County finally prompted the Sheriff’s Department to initiate termination proceedings against him. But Tackett resigned once he learned of the department’s intent and got a job with the U.S. Border Patrol, his peace officer certification still intact. It was in his capacity as a federal agent that Tackett, in 2012, shot and killed Valeria Tachiquin Alvarado, a mother of five who was attempting to drive away from him.
Tackett’s disturbing example isn’t as extraordinary as it should be. A California commission with new powers over police licensing recently estimated that it could be on the verge of barring thousands of officers from law enforcement by stripping them of their certification.
For decades, California police officers who committed serious crimes or engaged in grave misconduct were allowed to avoid termination by quietly quitting and finding jobs in other departments. They were able to do that because California had some of the strongest legal protections for law enforcement officers in the country.
