San Antonio Police Department protecting their interest

It has been the practice of the San Antonio Police Department that when officers are involved, they treat the situation differently than if a civilian is involved. In the most recent event, that happens to be the case.

Off-duty San Antonio police Sgt. Gabe Trevino, 42, was on his way home after working a patrol shift, driving a city-owned blue Chevrolet Impala west on the access road. He entered the highway's on-ramp, and his car made contact with the SUV Davila was driving. Notice how quickly the distinction is made, "off-duty."

A police report said Trevino may have failed to yield the right of way to Davila's SUV, which skidded across the two-lane highway and flipped over a 3-foot-tall concrete median. Texas law states motorists entering a freeway must yield the right of way to vehicles on the freeway. Had this been anyone other than an officer, the report would have said, Trevino failed to yield the right of way.

According to police, neither alcohol nor speed is believed to have contributed to the crash. Since officials did not suspect Trevino had been drinking, blood was not drawn, nor was a breathalyzer test conducted. The city does not require alcohol tests when company vehicles are crashed. Had this been anyone other than an officer, all kinds of chemicals test would have been performed.

As concern citizens, questions that have come to our minds are, how long was Trevino working for before the accident? Why no blood nor breathalyzer done on the cop? Why is the SAPD so "hush-hush" about it? The most disturbing thing is, why is the SAPD trying to blame the victim? Reason, "Liability."

The police report said Davila may have failed to take evasive action to avoid the collision: “when a driver takes no evasive action at all,” when she should have; “or, in an effort to avoid the collision, the driver takes improper evasive action, and the action contributes to the crash,” according to the Texas Department of Transportation. This would be the case only if Davila saw Trevino's car coming towards her, not if Trevino was driving so fast that it would have been impossible to see the car. The report does not take this in consideration, and why would it, the report is written by another cop.

This are facts about Trevino's driving record. Trevino received a speeding ticket in his personal vehicle Feb. 13 for traveling 78 mph in a 65-mph zone. Trevino has been involved in at least two previous wrecks, once in 2004 and again in 2007.

The department said "He wasn't found at fault in either incident, nor was anyone injured," SAPD spokesman Sgt. Chris Benavides. Benavides also said it was unclear whether he was on duty when those incidents occurred. SAPD's attempting to minimize liability.

This is an example of cops protecting cops phenomena. We have seen this type of behavior from the police departments in many of our cases. Regrettably, the police department will protect their interest, the cops will continue to work for the departments and the victims and their families are left with unanswered questions.

What is going on with the SAPD driving training?

As I am watching the news, I decided to write this blog since apparently, there is a problem with police offices having multiple accidents in San Antonio.

Car accidents are causing thousands of dollars, not only by regular citizens, but also by the San Antonio Police Department. The Department says that 90% of the accidents occurred when officers were only doing regular patrols.

Some officers have more than others; however, many of the one that have accidents, are the same ones that are having many of them. Based on the Department's policy, they are not supposed to speed when on police patrol.

New training for the department is been implemented, but 75% of the time that an officer is involved in an accident, they only get written or verbal warning. Only in 15% of them time, they will get remedial training.

The department admits that car accidents kill more officers than felonies or any other crimes. What are the citizens of San Antonio to do, perhaps required that the officers follow the same laws that all of us have to.

If you have been injured by a police car, please contact us. We are The Baez Law Firm, P.C and we are here because we care about your legal needs. The Baez Law Firm handles car accidents, family law, business law, criminal law, appeals, bankruptcy and estate planning.