THE COALITION OF HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
C/O Mario Salas, P.O. Box 690231, San Antonio , Texas 78269
November 13, 2007
The Honorable Michael Mukasey
Attorney General of the United States
C/o Office of Civil Rights, Criminal Unit
AND Institutional Division
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Robert S. Mueller, III, Director/or acting Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Ref: FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST SAN ANTONIO POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE BEXAR COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO VIOLATIONS OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL VIOLATIONS OF FEDERAL RIGHTS STATUTES; POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS STATUTES/HATE CRIMES; AND INSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND STATE PROSECUTORS; REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE FORMAL INVESTIGATION BY CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMINAL AND INSTITUTIONAL DIVISIONS
Dear Attorney General Mukasey and FBI Director Mueller:
On behalf of the residents of San Antonio and known and unknown victims of police abuse and misconduct the undersigned persons and organizations, together comprising the San Antonio Coalition on Human and Civil Rights (the “Coalition”), requests the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) commence an investigation into illegal and unconstitutional actions by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), the City of San Antonio, and individual SAPD officers.
Reports of police misconduct and abuse by the SAPD have been especially rampant in the last
several months as evidenced by the enclosed media articles on the subject. The Coalition believes this widespread media coverage has empowered many formerly voiceless victims to come forward with similar stories. The litany of offenses committed by SAPD officers includes racial profiling, assault, manslaughter, aggravated assault, sexual assault and official oppression. Because of fear and intimidation many of the unknown victims have chosen to report cases of abuse and misconduct to the Coalition rather than the SAPD and city officials. Patterns of abuse and systemic institutional malfeasance have emerged. Our Coalition of civil rights and liberties organizations was formed to investigate and memorialize the abuse suffered by victims and to challenge the institutional barriers to meaningful redress of resident grievances.
We ask for your intervention because the SAPD, the Chief of Police and officials with the City of San Antonio are unwilling or incapable of providing redress to individual victims of police misconduct and abuse. Furthermore, the SAPD, the Chief of Police and officials with the City of San Antonio are unwilling or incapable of instituting basic changes to SAPD and City policies and procedures that would insure at least minimal safeguards of our resident’s constitutional rights and liberties.
SAPD and the City of San Antonio have indicated that filing a complaint with the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) of the SAPD is the exclusive process by which a resident may initiate a report of misconduct or abuse. The Coalition has learned, however, that many potential complainants are not aware that IAD is the only place to lodge a complaint and they are actively misdirected so that no formal complaint is ever received by IAD. As one SAPD police officer told a local newspaper columnist: “People call [Tactical Response Unit] and say ‘I want to speak with the supervisor of officer so and so.’ But no complaint is initiated until it gets to Internal Affairs. And I know [Tactical Response Unit] held onto complaints that they never took to Internal Affairs. That was practiced.” The Coalition has received testimonials from residents that corroborate this officer’s statement.
The Coalition determined that in accordance with city and SAPD policy the complaint must be reported, fully investigated (including rebuttal by the officer(s), reviewed by the Citizen Action Advisory Board, and acted on by the Chief of Police within 180 days or no action can be taken against the officer the subject of the complaint. No extensions are permitted. It is the view of the Coalition this abbreviated time period for reporting and processing complaints may result in allegations of abuse and misconduct never seeing the light of day.
In the event a complaint does get properly channeled to IAD, the complainant must sign a form that admonishes that – in bold, underlined, capitalized lettering -- “a person commits Aggravated Perjury, a Third Degree Felony” in the event they file a false report. It was the determination of the Coalition that people found this language offensive, intimidating and calculated to discourage people from following through with the complaint process.
According to IAD, it is their policy to “summarize” the complainant’s statement in the form of type-written statement transcribed by an IAD officer. The Coalition received conflicting accounts about whether a complainant could appear with an attorney or personal representative for the initial interview. Several people said they were denied such a request. By all accounts, consistent with IAD policy, no complainant is provided with a copy of the written complaint after it is signed and notarized by the complainant. Nonetheless, the written complaint (sworn to by the complainant) may be shared with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for purposes of “investigation”. In the view of the Coalition, the above outlined procedures and practices are disturbing and invite malfeasance.
The Coalition received numerous complaints that the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has refused to prosecute SAPD officers even in cases of egregious, well-documented illegal misconduct. The Coalition is troubled by what some have termed the collusive nature of the relationship between SAPD, IAD, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office and the City of San Antonio.
According to sources within SAPD and the City of San Antonio, the Citizen Action Advisory Board (“the Board”) which reviews IAD complaints, is composed of 11 members, 7 of whom are designated by the SAPD. As to the remaining 4 Board members, SAPD reserves the right to veto any proposed candidate pursuant to the Police Union’s collective bargaining agreement with the City of San Antonio. It is the judgment of the Coalition that this current arrangement would not pass even the most cynical of standards for independence and objectivity and that this “system” invites institutional malfeasance. The system is broken.
To summarize, instances of SAPD abuse and misconduct of residents of San Antonio are well documented. In addition to the media mentioned above, we have enclosed copies of lawsuits filed in the federal courts which further detail the types of injuries and misconduct which have occurred. SAPD, the Chief of Police and city officials have refused or are incapable of taking action to redress these illegal and unconstitutional actions. Indeed, the City of San Antonio and SAPD have developed policies and procedures which have the perverse effect of suffocating complaints and covering up wrongdoing.
It is with the greatest sense of urgency that we the undersigned Coalition members beseech the DOJ and FBI provide redress for the people of San Antonio.
Respectfully,
___________________________ ______________________
Rev. Howard Anderson, President Rosa Rosales
San Antonio Branch NAACP National President, LULAC
________________________________ ___________________________
Patrick Filyk, President Graciela Sanchez
San Antonio Director, Esperanza Peace and Justice Ctr.
American Civil Liberties Union
_________________________ ________________________
James W. Myart, Jr., Chairman, Bishop Ronnie Armstrong
International Poverty and
Civil Rights Law Center
____________________________ ______________________________
Preston Johnson Tommy T.C. Calvert, President
A. Phillip Randolph Institute - APR Neighborhoods First Alliance
Alliance
______________________________ _________________________
Mario Marcel Salas Jamie Martinez
Former San Antonio City Councilman Founder, Cesar Chavez
March for Justice Committee
_____________________________ ___________________________
Gabriel Velasquez Patricia Castillo
President Inner City Advocates Director Peace Initiative
______________________________ ___________________________
Lauro Bustamante Amy Kastley
President LULAC Council 4879 Professor St. Mary’s University
School of Law School
_______________________________ __________________________
Henry Garcia Pastor Betty Evans
Ray Rangel American Legion Post 399 Storehouse Minister
___________________________ __________________________________
Nick Calzoncit Robert C. Dawson
Mexican American Advancement Project Environmental Justice Coalition
___________________________ ___________________________________ Rev. R. L. Archield Mary Emerson,
Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church President, Harvard Place Eastlawn Org.
___________________________________ ____________________________________
____________________________________ ____________________________________
Dee Villarrubia Ursula Hernandez
Co-Founder, Stonewall Democrats Citizens Organizing Against Police Abuse
___________________________________ ___________________________________
Henry Garcia William B. Johnson, Sr.
Ray Rangel American Legion Post 399 Former Chairman, San Antonio Police &
Firefighters Civil Service Commission
___________________________________ ___________________________________
Sister Gabriela Lohan Henry Rodriguez
Sisters of the Holy Spirit Convent LULAC Zapatista Chapter
___________________________________
Ralph Merriweather
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW)
Cc; Honorable Congressman John Conyers, Jr.
Chair, U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary