MEDIOCRITY REWARDED: BEN REYNA NAMED UTB'S TOP COP

By Juan Montoya
Benigno G. Reyna, the Brownsville Chief of Police who got the boot as director of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) in 2005 and left Washington in disgrace, has been named interim Chief of Police of the University at Texas-Brownsville by UTB president Juliet Garcia.
In a release made available to El Rrun-Rrun, Garcia made the announcement today. It is expected that he will continue to draw his current salary of $108,233.
Some say the "interim" prefix is just the tried-and-true bureaucratic method of circumventing the Equal Opportunity Commission's hiring guidelines and after a "search" Reyna will remain at the UTB helm. How many times has that happened in local governmental entities?
Reyna, who left the Marshals Service after he failed to adequately protect the families of federal judges even after he had been instructed specifically to apply funds provided by the U.S. Congress, currently holds the title of Special Assistant to the Provost for Governmental Relations.
Reyna went to Washington in 2001 after President George W. Bush nominated him to the post.

Immediately after the small-town cop in charge of some 130 officers found himself at the head of an agency with a staff of 4,200 and a budget of $733 million, trouble was afoot.
Reyna had navigated the bureaucratic waters of the BPD for some 25 years before being named Chief of Police in 1995, a position he left in 2001 to go to Washington at the behest of W.
According to a Washington Post article, he almost immediately faced skepticism from judges and regional U.S. marshals about his experience for the job.The US Marshals Service had come under fire from judges over the issue of security of judges and their families when Reyna headed the agency. He was soon the target of criticism about judicial security lapses and his leadership from federal judges and some members of Congress.
Then – only three years into his tenure – the Justice Department's Inspector General issued a report in 2004 critical of the way the US Marshals assessed threats against judges. Congress felt strongly enough about the issue that it authorized $12 million to spent on security systems for the homes of federal judges. Of 1,700 judges who requested these systems be installed, only 500 have received them before an event galvanized protest against his leadership.
The straw that broke the camel's back and which drove Reyna to resign came after typically reserved judges publicly criticized his management to Congress after a frustrated litigant broke into the Chicago home of U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow in February and killed her husband and mother.
They complained that Reyna had failed to devote staff and money to the service's primary duty of protecting judges and was channeling resources into other projects.
When Reyna could not weather the congressional onslaught, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation without explanation and thanked him for his service.
"Benigno Reyna has served as director of the U.S. Marshals Service with integrity and skill," Gonzales, who would also take his turn at the resignation podium later, said in a statement. "As a law enforcement officer with more than 29 years of experience, he has shown steadfast leadership in directing the Service in the months and years following the September 11th attacks, as well during its work with state and local law enforcement in Operation Falcon, which resulted in the arrests of more than 10,000 fugitives."
Leaving Washington D.C. in disgrace and heading home, Reyna was soon taken under the wing of University of Texas-Texas Southmost College partnership President Juliet Garcia and a position was made for him in the Office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs as a Special Assistant to the VP for Administrative Affairs at $100,000 a year.
That increased to $102,000 in 2006-2007, $104,040 in 2007-2008, $106,000 in 2008-2009, and finally to $108,233 from 2010 until today. However, he was no longer is assistant in academic affairs. His niche was described as Administrative Asst. to the Office of the Provost for Governmental Affairs.
As interim Chief of Police for the UTB, we expect that Reyna will now hav to do more than ride around in his golf cart inspecting the real estate at UTB.
Meanwhile, decorated academics and researchers have begun looking toward a legal remedy after they have been put on the chopping block as the downsizing of the UTB staff continues wholesale. Those Garcia favorites like Reyna, however – with minimal contributions to the academic or communitys' well-being – continue to flourish and prosper in her dwindling empire.