Aviso de queja relacionada con 2022-0351

OF
DATE
CLESSING
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
May 6, 2022
ICMS #: 2022-0351
On May 5, 2022, the OPO received an email complaint.
The complainant alleges: I wanted to bring something to the attention of
, or
really maybe just your attention. Today while heading westbound on
, at around
, an APD patrol car approached from a distance in my rear view. On my rearview
mirror I noticed a Christmas wreath on the front of the car's grille, with plush reindeer
antlers on the front doors. Cute, right? I'd like to maybe put some on my car as the season
is here. I'll try to be brief. Yes, this is something small to make a fuzz about. In all honesty,
I don't even think this attributable to the person driving the interceptor if the wreath and
antlers were difficult to remove before signing for the vehicle for officer's shift. What was
installed there before their active time might not be for them to replace or remove. The
unavoidable question for me is: "Depending on how long this wreath has been there, did
no one, not even supervisors, see this and thought 'this is not the best look'?" If I'm Jewish
in the Austin City Council and I happen to carry the Star visibly in my car, or one of an
estimated 5,000 Muslims in Austin and I display a Crescent and Star publicly, and I happen
to get stopped by patrol car
at
on
I cannot be sure
how this officer's discretion will affect our interaction. How much will this escalate?
Was
I stopped specifically for this while the person in front of me made the same violation and
continued undetected for not carrying this symbol? Besides, this type of display is banned
by department policy in 972.4.1 and many other stipulations throughout the manual on
religious matters. The final consideration I want APD to have is that, yes, this is small. It's
just a wreath. But it's a symbol. Humans speak through symbols. "An image is worth a
thousand words" with a thousand more actions to go with it that are not said. They're not
verbalized; they're acted on. And sometimes even more loudly than actions taken: actions
NOT taken. It's not just a question on "why did I get stopped?" but also the question on
"why did someone else NOT get stopped?" My question is not SO focused on the intentions
or biases of this one officer or personnel member installing those religious decorations.
Maybe they did it to appear more friendly after tragic years of poor public image and
someone thought this would help revitalize it. My question is more focused on the
environment that let's it happen: the other officers and supervisors who saw this installed,
depending on length of time this symbol has been in place, the next officer who drove this
OF
GIVE
CUSTOM
OFFICE OF
POLICE OVERSIGHT
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
vehicle. Why did NO ONE ELSE in the department intervene and say "hey maybe that's
not the best thing to be flashing around. And it's not allowed under policy"? It's just a
wreath. And cute plush antlers. Symbols I don't associate with Hanukkah. I don't celebrate
winter with these objects. These are specific to a religious holiday: Christmas. It's just
a
wreath. It's a small symbol and object. But some symbols are not this small. Some deep
biases are not this easy to spot, as in a fluffy wreath. Consider this when thinking on
symbols more pronounced and visible like skin color, both on officers, and the public.
Consider that White cadets have a graduation rate of 80% in your academy and Whites are
still overrepresented in your force compared to the city's make up of 47% Caucasian and
when high-discretion searches selects people of color disproportionately, up to three times
higher. While today is "just a wreath", last year should have been a warning that it's never
just a (insert apparent irrelevant gesture). While some are cute decorations, others are seen
as inherently threatening. Finally, while that wreath can and should be taken off the patrol
car, there are wreaths we cannot take off season by season. A wreath on the grille, at the
end of the day, could give a person of color in any city a fighting chance at fairness, but
it's more likely that other more visible symbols could lead to an escalation.
This notice of complaint is a request for Internal Affairs to initiate an investigation to
determine if the employee conduct is within compliance of APD policy, Civil Service
Rules, and Municipal Civil Service Rules.