AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Police Chief Joe Chacon has disciplined three officers, imposing the harshest suspension allowable for two of them, after he said they failed to intervene in an encounter involving excessive force.
He suspended the third for his treatment of a reported sexual assault victim, documents show.
Officers Katherine Alzola and Eric Perez were suspended for 90 days for violating a policy requiring officers to intercede "if they know the force being used is not objectively reasonable." Union officials said they believe Alzola and Perez are the first two officers to be suspended for violating the policy in place for several years.
Chacon issued the discipline following hearings last week, days before Austin City Council members confirmed him as the city's newest police chief in a 9-2 vote. City officials released the memos Wednesday.
The case centers on a March 12 incident in which officers responded to a "nature unknown" call at an apartment. When they arrived, they recognized a man inside who had a warrant for his arrest on an assault/family violence charge.
The man "displayed resistance" as officers tried to handcuff him, according to a disciplinary memo, at which time he inadvertently handcuffed himself. Perez then properly secured the man's handcuffs, but did not alert other officers that he had done so.
At that point, an officer who is not identified in the memo — but who is the subject of an ongoing investigation — used his Taser on the man "after handcuffs had been applied." That officer also used a baton "to pry (the man's) arms behind his back multiple times while he was handcuffed," memos said.
An internal affairs investigation found that Perez and Alzola had a duty to stop the other officer from using additional force on the handcuffed man.
Under Texas civil service law, a 90-day suspension is the most serious discipline a chief can impose without firing an employee.
In the other case, Chacon suspended Officer Brian O'Quinn for 20 days for his response in March to a woman who was reporting that she had been sexually assaulted. The woman filed a complaint that day with the Office of Police Oversight, saying O'Quinn was "rude and acted like he didn't believe her."
An internal affairs investigation found O'Quinn failed to take several critical investigative steps, including interviewing the victim "with the proper amount of dignity and respect," a disciplinary memo said.
He also failed to relay critical information to an on-call sex crime detective and to make sure evidence was collected or take photographs of the scene, the memo said.
"Officer O'Quinn's failure to conduct a proper investigation, collect evidence, relay and document this incident will likely hinder any potential efforts to prosecute this case," the memo said.
In an internal affairs interview, the document stated, O'Quinn acknowledged: "I'm just literally disappointed in how I handled this call."
———
