The Proposition B in San Antonio, to hold police accountable, failed by a slim margin, and it did so for many reasons including: police harassment at the polls, the ability to put 5 to 15 cops at major polling sites, the use of retired officers and back the blue vigilantes, internal issues within groups fighting for accountability, and poor wording on the proposition. The local AFL-CIO was bamboozled because of the collective bargaining issue and was sidetracked on the discipline part which the police association refuses to discuss in any real way. In addition, there were not enough poll workers on our end and other issues as well. However, the public spoke loudly as some 70,000 voters believe that this police association is out of control in terms of hiding abuses and protecting abusive officers that are still lurking out there. In fact, there are at least 100 police officers, and maybe more, that should be fired and stay fired.
The central issue of the loss, to hold police accountability in my opinion, was acceptance of “defund the police” folks who could have used some other term instead of a phrase loaded with negativity that turned some sympathetic voters against us and which the police found quite useful. “Defund” was the weak link that sabotaged and scuttled the message of accountability, and the police used it on seniors in neighborhoods ridden with crime and with white voters that already view crime being associated with people of color. In our coalition, we would not give the Defund folks a platform while the police secretly encouraged it. Many of the “defund” people meant well and were hoping that their message of reprogramming dollars for mental health and social issues would have traction. However, it did not, and the dictionary meaning of “defund” translated to other utopian foolish ideas of “abolish” the police. Daydreamers that had no clue of the local conditions provided utopian hogwash that the police association exploited to their advantage.
On the positive side we gathered a lot of support and sent the message that the issue of discipline will not go away. I think there are a number of strategies that could be employed knowing this, including a massive email campaign to each council member, the Mayor, he city manager, and the city attorney. There may also be some federal help that we can organize but all of this will be discussed that the next SACPA meeting. It is not over folks as the community is determined to change the police association contract that protects criminal cops. Also, keep in mind that the police will go after the candidates in council districts that supported us if any of them are in a runoff. We cannot allow the police association to sabotage District 2 with their lies and a contract that that avoids accountability of bad cops.
The number of voters that supported Proposition B is a clear indication that the City of San Antonio must support removing the 180-day rule, the 48-hour rule, and the hiding of bad conduct by police officers in their service record. This is a minimum demand for we also need to have a Civilian Review Board that can have the power to subpoena officers that are at present refusing to come before the existing board. The arbitration process must be changed as out of town arbitrators, some of whom are racist, are being allowed to overturn a termination of a bad cop. The fight will continue, as we are not going to stop this struggle for civil and human rights.
