The falsehoods of SAPOA
There is a door hanger being bandied about town in expectation of the city elections on May 1st of this year. The FIXSAPD organization turned in over 25,000 signatures to repeal Chapter 174 of the local government code, and was certified by the City of San Antonio to be placed on the ballot for the Saturday, May 1, 2021 city election. First let’s get educated about this proposition. The City has a contract with the police officers association (SAPOA) which uses Chapter 174 to establish an underhanded and lopsided collective bargaining scheme that favors police associations and prevents any real accountability when police violence against black and brown people is on the rise. With this code the police association can get hold of arbitrators that are racist, using them to negate punishment as they did in the case of SAPD officer Tim Garcia who called a black man the “N” word multiple times, and still is still able to remain on the force after being fired by the Chief.
With Chapter 174 the police association can frustrate justice and accountability and even make null and void Civil Service Commission rules, not to mention the fact that police officers accused of abusing citizens can refuse to act in accordance with the citizen’s commission to appear before them to address a complaint. How many citizens have been abused in one form or another across the city? Hundreds! This manner of collective bargaining is not something that is in the best interests of the public. The petition campaign to repeal their supremacy has nothing to do with the Fire Fighters Union. We support the Fire Fighters and their agreement. The repeal is only against the police association and does not lead to any other union or association being decertified.
One of the principal deceptions put out by the association is that the community is anti-police. Those of us with police officers in our families know how important it is to get rid of RACIST and BAD COPS—this is why we must VOTE YES TO REPEAL CHAPTER 174 on MAY 1, with the Early Vote Period being on Monday, April 19, 2021 – Tuesday, April 27, 2021.
Another fabrication on the leaflet is a depiction of rioters breaking windows and claims that the peaceful demonstrations across the country were organized by violent people trying to defund the police when FIXSAPD never endorsed the term “defund.” Claiming that the petition campaign is connected with violent people is pure HOGWASH, but worst of all it is racist for it tries to defame the Black Lives Matter Movement. SAPOA even used the old KKK slosh verbiage that claimed the organizers were from out of town. This is what the KKK used to say when black citizens were trying to end police and racist aggression across the South. This type of assault appears on extremist websites. The San Antonio Police Officer’s Association use of various tactics is reminiscent of the words that racist Capitol Rioters used in their brutal rampage in D.C. this year.
The police association has the right to seek benefits, health and insurance, but should not have the right to rehire bad cops using the 180 day rule written in their contract. They should not have the right to preempt criminal prosecution by using arbitrators that are not neutral but have been racist. What kind of collective bargaining agreement is that? For years, bad cops have gotten away with murder by using this contract to escape justice. There should not be an arbitration process that makes them resistant to being disciplined. How many high-quality officers have filed complaints against bad cops? We do not know, as they will not tell us. But there is an on-going study that preliminarily shows that many of the victims killed are black or brown and often shot in the back. Then there is the case of Jesse Aguirre who was murdered very similar to the way George Floyd was killed. If “good officers” don’t need these protections why does SAPOA put out racist lies to protect them?
