San Antonio Police Officers Affiliation President Danny Diaz is retiring from the drive after greater than 30 years on the San Antonio Police Division. He’s spent the previous 5 years as a union chief.
Over the approaching months, San Antonio will see a number of main management and coverage modifications, with longtime SAPD Chief William McManus set to retire in September, a brand new district legal professional set to be elected within the November election and stalled police union contract negotiations nonetheless looming over Metropolis Corridor.
The modifications come as metropolis leaders proceed debating police hiring, staffing and the way forward for policing in one of many nation’s fastest-growing cities — all whereas San Antonio prepares to confront finances cuts and potential tax and utility charge will increase.
Throughout Diaz’s tenure, SAPOA navigated among the most politically turbulent years for policing in current reminiscence, together with debates over police reform, collective bargaining, staffing and public accountability following the 2020 protests over the homicide of George Floyd.
In a dialog with the San Antonio Report, Diaz mentioned the state of SAPOA and SAPD, frustrations amongst rank-and-file officers, the upcoming district legal professional democratic runoff race, the seek for San Antonio’s subsequent police chief and what he believes officers want as the town continues to develop.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
What do you suppose the largest problem going through rank-and-file officers in San Antonio is right this moment?
Morale is the largest factor you realize, we’ve had lots of points that we’re making an attempt to repair. There’s lots of issues happening within the division and the mentality of doing extra with much less, wants to come back to a cease, as a result of we’ve been doing that for many years.
Our membership must know that the division, metropolis council and the town’s authorized division has our again, as a result of the sensation just isn’t that manner proper now. There’s issues to work on, I feel with the brand new transition for a chief, goes to make a distinction and so we’ll see how that goes. Whoever it might be.
Nationally, legislation enforcement companies have spent a number of years below elevated public scrutiny and reform discussions, whereas cities in Texas have considerably elevated funding for departments. Out of your perspective, how has the connection between officers and the neighborhood modified throughout your tenure?
It’s gotten tremendously higher. Once I first began (with the union), 5 and a half years in the past, there was a disconnect between cops and the neighborhood. There was no dialogue.
Once I first began (on the drive) — I’m going to point out my age right here. In 1991, I used to be in a position to speak to individuals once I had a name. I may spend an additional 10-Quarter-hour speaking with them and also you get to know individuals and in that they know you’re there for them. They usually additionally get you info that’s wanted to assist hold that little space protected.
Recently, its officers are going name to name to name. They don’t have the power to do this. It makes an enormous distinction after we exit because the affiliation, get out to the neighborhood by way of our nonprofit, and be there for them and be seen and simply have conversations.
Chief William McManus is retiring in September, what sort of police chief do officers need subsequent? And what qualities do you suppose are most essential in his alternative?
San Antonio is completely different from different cities. Bringing in a chief from the surface, that’s not going to know the way this division works, how this metropolis capabilities, for my part wouldn’t work.
We’re probably the most numerous metropolis, for my part, in the USA, aside from Los Angeles. However it’s received its completely different quirks to it. We want any person from inside, somebody that is aware of, and that’ll be an enormous piece of their tenure as a chief to make the modifications which might be finest for the membership, the division itself and the neighborhood.
Officers will be capable of do their jobs in comparison with now, the place they’re being handcuffed at instances, and lots of that comes from metropolis corridor. It’s form of laborious when some council members don’t wish to rent extra officers. However then, in the identical dialog, identical day, identical council assembly, they need one other 50 SAFFE officers for their very own district. Effectively, you don’t wish to rent, however you need, nonetheless, many extra, SAFFE officers. How? What’s the expectation? How do you do this with out any person paying a worth? Are we going to take them from patrol, then the neighborhood suffers? Are we going to take them from detectives, to the place investigation suffers, after which the neighborhood suffers on the again finish as a result of they will’t do their work?
Whoever they select, must have an open thoughts and take heed to their officers, as a result of what’s taking place now’s that nobody listens. They don’t take heed to the officers that truly do the work. There’s concepts that come down, concepts which are applied, however nobody asks the individuals that truly do the work, from officers to detectives, if it’s possible. Or if it’s even one thing that can assist not solely the officers doing their job, but in addition the neighborhood.
Collective bargaining negotiations have paused for now. What do you suppose must occur within the subsequent police contract to enhance retention and stabilize the division long run?
So far as stability is worried, should you pay the officers, what’s similar to different cities, we’re in a position to compete. And so far as bringing in new recruits, would be capable of retain lots of people which are leaving.
Once I got here on, it was, everybody knew it was a profession. You stayed, you realize, 30 years plus. Now, some guys are leaving in two, three or 5 years. And that was unprecedented again then, and it’s like nothing now. In order that’s an enormous distinction, and one of many foremost objectives that we have to cope with.
And I do know that the town want to get it finished by the top of the month. I assumed we may have gotten it finished by Fiesta, however we got here ready and I don’t suppose the opposite aspect was, which is OK, as a result of I do know there’s different issues happening, however we’re all the way down to the place we have to get issues located and get it finished for either side, and I feel we’re very shut.
There’s been lots of debate over staffing ranges and whether or not SAPD has sufficient officers to maintain up with development and name quantity. Do you consider SAPD is understaffed proper now, and if that’s the case, how critical is the issue?
We nonetheless don’t have sufficient officers to have the ability to police appropriately. And what I imply by that’s there’s not an entire lot of proactive work we’re doing.
Mainly, the way in which the division has been and the way in which the course has been from metropolis corridor is that we’re simply report writers, what I imply by that’s we deal with what is available in. We’re not actively out wanting, or we don’t have sufficiently big models, or sufficient officers going out and looking for weapons and narcotics and issues of that kind to discourage them. We’re by no means going to cease issues of that nature, we simply want to discourage it rather a lot higher than what we’re doing now, and having extra officers we might be capable of do this.
How has the politics surrounding policing modified over the course of your time each in Metropolis Corridor and in the neighborhood?
Once I got here in, we had been having to cope with two propositions, one was to remove collective bargaining for the civil providers, and the opposite was permitting individuals to steal from companies as much as $1,500 with none kind of disciplinary actions.
From the start I knew it was going to be laborious, as a result of there was animosity between my predecessor and the earlier metropolis supervisor, and it took lots of laborious work to have the ability to change that dialogue and have a dialogue with Metropolis Corridor and with the police chief, which we’ve got now.
I feel the politicians know now that we’re not the grasping bastards that we’ve been portrayed to be in a sure e book by a earlier metropolis supervisor. We’re right here to work with them and it’s made issues higher within the sense that we’re speaking and we’re speaking and either side perceive that it’s not nearly one aspect. It’s about three: the membership, the neighborhood and the town.
How do officers view the district legal professional Democratic runoff between candidates Luz Elena Chapa and Jane Davis?
We endorsed Luz Elena Chapa for a purpose, she’s no nonsense and appears at either side. And the factor is, she sees the horrible job that Joe Gonzalez has finished. There’s no penalties for anyone proper now and that’s tough. All you must do is have a look at the quantity of prosecutors that left throughout his tenure that weren’t allowed to do their work. With Chapa, you will note that households shall be happier that the people committing crimes undergo the method, and that justice shall be served or performed out and I feel that she’ll do an amazing job on the helm doing that.
It’s going again to fundamentals. In the event you commit against the law, you must anticipate that you simply’re going to pay in a method, form or type, whether or not it’s deferred adjudication or whether or not it’s probation or time in jail, and never simply all instances being dropped or deferred.
She’s going to carry individuals’s toes to the fireplace and allow them to undergo the justice system and let the justice system determine the punishment.
Jane Davis works for Joe Gonzalez; she has the identical mindset. So if she wins and is the district legal professional, then we anticipate no modifications, and the neighborhood ought to anticipate that persons are simply going to get away with crimes and never have any self-discipline in any respect in any way after they commit crimes. So it’s going to keep establishment.
Some may argue that police unions have an excessive amount of political affect, particularly in native races involving legal justice. How do you reply to that criticism?
It’s humorous, as a result of a few of these critics do the identical factor on the opposite aspect. It’s to make individuals suppose in another way, or simply to make people suppose that we’re making an attempt to take benefit or get a bonus in a method, form or type.
From our standpoint, we don’t take heed to what different individuals say. We’re bipartisan, and what we do is we choose the perfect candidate that’s there for whichever seat that it’s, and this time round, we really feel that Luz Chapa is the perfect candidate for that seat, which is true, not solely by our membership, however by this neighborhood.
When individuals look again in your management at SAPOA, what do you hope each officers and the general public bear in mind about you?
I hope the officers know that it wasn’t about me, it was concerning the membership, and that that was my thought course of, I by no means forgot the place I got here from and that was the way in which that I labored, and had our committees work towards. It’s concerning the membership.
And so far as the neighborhood. I’d hope that they’d see how we labored laborious, not solely to do issues for them as a neighborhood, however that we stored an open thoughts and labored with the town council, with the administration, to make the town higher and safer for them. We try for that proper? It was by no means about us as people, it was about everybody else.
