San Antonio Police Department

Last updated

San Antonio Police Department
AbbreviationSAPD
Agency overview
Formed1846 [1]
Employees2,991 (2020) [2]
Annual budget$479 m (2020) [3]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSan Antonio, Texas, USA
Bexar SanAntonio.svg
Map of San Antonio Police Department's jurisdiction
Size465.4 square miles (1,210 km2)
Population1,492,510 (2017) [4]
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters315 S. Santa Rosa
Police officers 2,352 (2020)
Unsworn members639 (2020)
Elected officer responsible
Agency executives
  • William McManus [5] , Chief of Police
    4 Gold Stars.svg
  • Anthony Treviño, Assistant Chief over the Operations Bureau 2 Gold Stars.svg
  • James Flavin, Assistant Chief and commander of the Operations Support Bureau 2 Gold Stars.svg
Website
www.sanantonio.gov/SAPD

The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of San Antonio, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are at South Santa Rosa district. SAPD is one of the largest municipal police departments in Texas.

Contents

The current chief of police is William McManus, who is known, among other things, for his aggressive stance on those who verbally insult police officers. [6] [7] [8] [9]

History

Early law enforcement in San Antonio begins with the alguacils of the Villa de San Fernando de Bexar and progresses to the Texas Rangers, vigilantes, and City Marshals of early San Antonio. [10]

Officers are issued the Smith & Wesson M&P .40 S&W as the sidearm. Prior officers were issued the Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol which had been used since the early 1990s. Prior to the Glock officers were issued .357 magnum Smith & Wesson Model 65-2 revolvers.

Organization

The San Antonio Police Department's organization includes a chief of police a command and executive staff, [11] and the use of community crime mapping. [12]

As of November 2018, the department had 2,358 officers of which 1,204 were Hispanic (51.1%), 1,003 were white (42.5%), 119 were Black (5.0%), and 32 other (1.4%). [13]

Controversy

Civil rights violations lawsuit

In August 2016, during a search on the street, a female officer pulled down a female citizen's shorts and underwear and pulled a tampon out of the woman's vagina, in public, right on the street in the daytime, and in front of five male officers who were watching as well any passersbys who were around. [14] The woman sued the City of San Antonio in a Federal civil rights lawsuit stating that her constitutional rights had been violated. [14] In October 2019, the city agreed to pay the woman $205,000 to settle the case. [15]

Misconduct arbitration

In July 2020, the Mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, stated concerns about practices involving arbitrators reinstating police officers after the officers were fired by the chief of police for misconduct. [16] Specifically, an instance of misconduct involved a San Antonio police officer that "allegedly tried to give a homeless man a sandwich filled with dog feces", another involved an officer stating to a man that he would let him free if he could win in a fistfight with the officer, and a third instance involved an officer fired in January 2019 repeatedly using "the n-word as he arrested a Black man for trespassing at a mall". [16] [17] The firings of these three officers by the police chief were overturned by an arbitrator, allowing them to return to police work. [16] In response to such matters, Nirenberg stated to CNN, "We've seen too many cases where the arbitrator has overturned the chief's decision when it's as clear as day that that officer accused of misconduct should no longer be on the force. It's egregious." [16]

The officer who allegedly attempted to give a homeless man a sandwich with dog feces in it was later fired again for another alleged misconduct incident, in which it is alleged that in June 2016 the officer defecated in a women's only restroom toilet and spread "a brown, feces-like substance" on the toilet while on bike patrol. [18] [19] The officer's partner also allegedly defecated in the women's only toilet. [19] In this matter, the arbitrator sided with the chief of police's firing regarding the alleged incident, and the officer was not reinstated to the force. [18] [20]

For the time period of approximately July 2010 to July 2020 (reported in July 2020 as "over the last decade"), 24 cases involving police officers being fired for misconduct have been adjudicated by an independent arbitrator, and 10 officers from these 24 cases were given their jobs back. [18]

McDonalds shooting incident

On October 2, 2022, Officer James Brennand reportedly fired his weapon a total of ten times at Erik Cantu. The teenage victim was eating a hamburger in a McDonald's parking lot, and he was approached and fired upon while attempting to back away from the officer who drew his firearm. Officer Brennard's employment was terminated after review of the incident by the police department. [21] [22] [23] Cantu was determined to be in critical condition and was placed on life support. [24] On October 11, Brennand was charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a public servant. [25]

Ranks

Below are the current ranks of the San Antonio Police Department. [26]

RankInsignia
Chief 4 Gold Stars.svg
Assistant Chief 2 Gold Stars.svg
Deputy Chief 1 Gold Star.svg
Captain Captain insignia gold.svg
Lieutenant US-O1 insignia.svg
Sergeant VA - State Police Sergeant.png
Detective-Investigator TX - Houston Police Senior Police Officer.png
Police OfficerN/A

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Antonio</span> City in Texas, United States

San Antonio, officially the City of San Antonio, is a city in and the county seat of Bexar County, Texas, United States. The city is the seventh-most populous in the United States, the second-largest in the Southern United States, and the second-most populous in Texas after Houston. San Antonio is the largest city of the San Antonio–New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area. Commonly called Greater San Antonio, the metropolitan area had a population of 2,601,788 based on the 2020 U.S. census estimates, making it the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the United States and third-largest in Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Park, Texas</span> Town in Texas, United States

Hollywood Park is a town in Bexar County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,130 at the 2020 census. It is an enclave within far north central Bexar County and is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Police Department</span> Seattle, United States law enforcement agency

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Seattle, Washington, United States, except for the campus of the University of Washington, which is under the responsibility of its own police department.

In law enforcement in the United States, a gypsy cop, also known as a wandering police officer, is a police officer who frequently transfers between police departments, having a record of misconduct or unsuitable job performance. The term is slang, referencing the stereotypical nomadic lifestyle of Gypsies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOAI-TV</span> NBC/CW affiliate in San Antonio

WOAI-TV is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KABB ; Sinclair also provides certain services to Kerrville-licensed Dabl affiliate KMYS under joint sales and shared services agreements with Deerfield Media. The three stations share studios between Babcock Road and Sovereign Drive in northwest San Antonio; WOAI-TV's transmitter is located in northwest Wilson County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northside Independent School District</span> School district in Texas, United States

Northside Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Leon Valley, Texas. It is the largest school district in the San Antonio area and the fourth largest in the State of Texas. Northside serves 355 square miles (920 km2) of urban landscape, suburban growth and rural territory in the San Antonio suburbs and the Hill Country. Northside is roughly 50 percent built out with the center of the district's boundaries near Helotes, just north of the Bandera Road and Loop 1604 intersection. Because of fast-paced growth, the district envisions possibly another four high schools over the next few decades, including far west areas off Potranco Road and Hwy 211, Culebra Road past Talley Road, I-10 near Boerne Stage Road and far north Bandera Road near the Pipe Creek/Bandera County/Medina County areas.

Police misconduct is inappropriate conduct and illegal actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Types of misconduct include among others: sexual offences, coerced false confession, intimidation, false arrest, false imprisonment, falsification of evidence, spoliation of evidence, police perjury, witness tampering, police brutality, police corruption, racial profiling, unwarranted surveillance, unwarranted searches, and unwarranted seizure of property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus Division of Police</span> Law enforcement agency in Columbus, Ohio

The Columbus Division of Police (CPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Columbus, Ohio, in the United States. It is the largest police department in Ohio, and among the twenty-five largest in the United States. It is composed of twenty precincts and numerous other investigative and support units. Chief Elaine Bryant assumed leadership of the Division in 2021. Special units of the Columbus Division of Police include a Helicopter Unit, Canine Unit, Mounted Unit, Community Response Teams, Marine Park Unit, and Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown San Antonio</span> District of San Antonio

Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas and the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis Police Department</span> Minnesota, United States law enforcement agency

The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is also the largest police department in Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second-oldest police department in Minnesota, after the Saint Paul Police Department that formed in 1854. A short-lived Board of Police Commissioners existed from 1887 to 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Police Department</span> Law enforcement agency serving San Diego, California

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of San Diego, California. The department was officially established on May 16, 1889.

On November 20, 2016, Benjamin Marconi, a detective with the San Antonio Police Department, was shot to death in San Antonio, Texas. In the shooting, a motorist stopped his car, got out, and shot and wounded Marconi while the latter was sitting in his marked patrol car in front of the department's headquarters, writing a ticket for another driver during a routine traffic stop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Amendment audit</span> Largely American social movement

First Amendment audits are a largely American social movement that usually involves photographing or filming from a public space. It is often categorized by its practitioners, known as auditors, as activism and citizen journalism that tests constitutional rights, in particular the right to photograph and video record in a public space. Auditors have tended to film or photograph government buildings, equipment, access control points as well as any personnel present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 San Antonio mayoral election</span>

On May 4, 2019, the city of San Antonio, Texas held an election to choose the next mayor of San Antonio. The election was a nonpartisan blanket primary. As no candidate secured a majority of the vote, a runoff was held on June 8, 2019, between the two top candidates, incumbent mayor Ron Nirenberg and San Antonio City Councilman Greg Brockhouse. In the runoff, Nirenberg narrowly defeated Brockhouse, 51.11% to 48.89%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Acevedo</span> American police chief (born 1964)

Hubert Arturo Acevedo is an American police officer who is the Assistant City Manager of Austin, Texas. He was previously, the interim chief of police of the Aurora Police Department as of December 2022. Previously, he was the chief of police of the Austin Police Department, Houston Police Department, and Miami Police Department. Before becoming a police chief, he was a member of the California Highway Patrol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shooting of Sean Monterrosa</span> 2020 police shooting of a Latino American man in Vallejo, California

Sean Monterrosa was a 22-year-old Latino American man who was fatally shot on June 2, 2020, by Vallejo police officer Jarrett Tonn. Monterrosa was on his knees and had his hands above his waist when Tonn shot him through the windshield of his unmarked police pickup truck. The police later said Tonn shot him because he erroneously believed a hammer in Monterrosa's pocket was a gun. Monterrosa later died at a local hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robb Elementary School shooting</span> 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, US

The Robb Elementary School shooting, commonly referred to as the Uvalde school shooting, was a mass shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas, United States, when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, while 17 others were injured but survived. After shooting and severely wounding his grandmother at their home earlier that day, Ramos drove to and entered the school, remaining in an adjoining classroom for more than an hour before members of the United States Border Patrol Tactical Unit fatally shot him after he had bypassed numerous local and state officers who had been in the school's hallways for over an hour.

On October 2, 2022, Officer James Brennand of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) shot 17-year-old Erik Cantu in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. After responding to an unrelated disturbance, Brennand saw Cantu eating a hamburger in his vehicle, and recognized the vehicle as the same one which had evaded him at a traffic stop the day prior. After opening Cantu's driver-side door, Brennand opened fire when Cantu reversed the vehicle and the same door struck Brennand. Brennand was fired less than a week later and was later charged with two counts of aggravated assault by a peace officer. He was later indicted for aggravated assault and attempted murder. Following the incident, Cantu was immediately placed on life support and remained hospitalized for a number of weeks.

References

  1. Durain, Leah (January 24, 1955). "SAPD history preserved in vintage photos". KENS . Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  2. Sullivan, Carl; Baranauckas, Carla (June 26, 2020). "Here's how much money goes to police departments in largest cities across the U.S." USA Today . Archived from the original on July 14, 2020.
  3. "Adopted Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 2020" (PDF). City of San Antonio, Office of Management & Budget. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  4. Bureau, U.S. Census. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  5. "Police Chief". Sanantonio.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  6. "Message From The Chief". Sanantonio.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  7. Caltabiano, David (March 10, 2019). "Local YouTuber speaks out after conviction". WOAI. Retrieved March 11, 2019. When you get into an officers face and hurl insults, that's verbal assault and not a first amendment protected right
  8. Beltran, Jacob; Downs, Caleb (March 6, 2019). "Activist found guilty for disorderly conduct during incident with San Antonio SWAT". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved March 11, 2019. McManus applauded Padilla's conviction Wednesday. He said the court's decision "almost puts a dagger in the heart of their First Amendment excuse for insulting police officers."
  9. "City of San Antonio Successfully Prosecutes Individual for Disrupting Police Officers during Course of Duty". The City of San Antonio - Official City Website. Retrieved March 11, 2019. "[... V]erbal attacks against us simply for wearing a uniform and performing our duties does not represent the spirit of the law," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus
  10. "History". Sanantonio.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  11. "Leadership Chart" (PDF). Sanantonio.gov. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  12. "LexisNexis® Community Crime Map". Communitycrimemap.com. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  13. "San Antonio Police Department Sworn Officer Demographics includes Cadets as of 28 November 2018" (PDF). City of San Antonio website. November 28, 2018.
  14. 1 2 Einbinder, Nicole (October 16, 2019). "A woman is suing the city of San Antonio after a police officer pulled out her tampon in public". Insider. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  15. Nowlin, Sanford (October 18, 2019). "San Antonio Settles Lawsuit With Woman Who Said Police Searched Her Vagina in the Street and Removed Her Tampon - The Daily". San Antonio Current. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Tolan, Casey; Black, Nelli; Griffin, Drew (July 2, 2020). "How police unions protect officers fired for bad behavior". CNN . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  17. Fink, Jenni (June 23, 2020). "'Goddamn' as Offensive as the N-Word, Says San Antonio Police Union President". Newsweek . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  18. 1 2 3 Medina, Mariah (July 2, 2020). "'In most cases, the city gets their desired outcome,' San Antonio police union says of cop discipline data". KENS . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  19. 1 2 Medina, Mariah (February 24, 2020). "'No one wants him back': Fired officer asks for job back following feces-related incidents". KENS . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  20. Tracy, Gerald (June 19, 2020). "Feces sandwich officer denied reinstatement to San Antonio police". WOAI-TV . Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  21. Thornton, Claire. "San Antonio officer fired after shooting 17-year-old eating McDonald's burger in car; Texas DA rejects charges against teen". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  22. Campbell, Josh (October 7, 2022). "San Antonio cop fired after shooting teen in McDonald's parking lot". CNN. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  23. Mack, David (October 9, 2022). "A 17-Year-Old Was Eating A McDonald's Burger In His Car When A Cop Shot Him. Now He's In Critical Condition". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  24. Burke, Minyvonne; Alsharif, Mirna (October 11, 2022). "17-year-old is on life support after being shot by San Antonio officer in McDonald's parking lot". NBC News. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  25. Levenson, Eric; Campbell, Josh; Rose, Andy (October 11, 2022). "Aggravated assault charges filed against former San Antonio officer who shot 17-year-old at McDonald's parking lot". CNN. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  26. "San Antonio Police Department - Leadership Chart. Sanantonio.gov. Retrieved July 4, 2020.

Further reading