Steven Zimmerman, Reporter, New Mexico/Israel

A West Texas police department has found a way to resurrect the Spanish Inquisition. Selectively targeting officers and issuing a department-wide training bulletin to targeting the Jerusalem Press for information that is protected under media shield laws harkens back to the El Paso Police Department of the 1980’s.

On 8 March 2024, we shared the article embedded below.

To Save a Life: An EPPD Officer Puts His Life on the Line. – The Jerusalem Press

“I just want the general public to understand that it is not all about force,” says El Paso Police Officer Chris Camp. “It’s about showing forms of compassion, understanding, and, most of all, never being afraid to be human.”

In this article, we shared a body-cam video that showed an officer with the El Paso Police Department putting his life on the line to save a person in distress.

Sharing this video created a chain reaction that led to an investigation into an officer and questions from the police to the Jerusalem Press. It also led to a television station in El Paso, KTSM, distorting facts of the case (claiming to have obtained documents related to the case and then misidentifying officers on the scene).

THE VIDEO, THE DETECTIVES, A DEPARTMENT LOST

The El Paso Police Department does not like that the video was made public. Regardless of how it was provided, according to two people we spoke with today, it is beside the point.

“This video ain’t so much the problem,” a patrol officer with EPPD told us under the condition of anonymity. “The problem is it makes the CIT guys look a fool.”

From the picture with the red circle, we see the feet of an officer in the bushes. One of these is Officer Perez, a CIT officer. Why was he hiding?

“I saw that video,” said a second officer, a detective, with the El Paso Police Department. “Why did Perez wait until the situation nearly ended before he chimed in?”

Under the Texas Occupational and Safety Code, section 1701.659 says:

A peace officer or other employee of a law enforcement agency commits an offense if the officer or employee releases a recording created with a body worn [sic] camera under this subchapter without permission of the applicable law enforcement agent.

An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.

This is from a recently created and released PowerPoint presentation distributed by the El Paso Police Department. Several officers currently with the department sent us copies of this presentation. To download or view the presentation.

The PowerPoint presentation on body-worn cameras causes us to wonder what level of training concerning laws under a little-known Occupational and Safety Code officers received.

We also searched the El Paso Police Department Procedures Manual, which you can download or read here, to see if it mentions the punishment for releasing video from a body-worn camera without prior authorization. We couldn’t find it, and we tried.

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Or download the El Paso Police Department Procedures Manual by clicking here.

Is charging an officer with a misdemeanor crime proportional to allegedly releasing a video, such as it is?

The detective who spoke to for this article says he has never seen the department issue a training bulletin and then attempt to punish someone when clear direction and training from the department was lacking.

TRAINING FOR CIT OFFICERS

In the video we shared, several officers yell at a distressed man. In this case, CIT should have taken the lead. In fact, in an issue that involved SWAT responding to a noncustodial father having taken his child by force, the PIO (Public Information Officer) of the police department says this is what CIT was trained for.

The fact that the CIT officer on the scene did not engage the suspect is concerning. Could there be a need for more education and training?

So, what training do CIT officers receive?

“I’m not on CIT,” said the detective we spoke to on condition of anonymity. “A basic, common-sense assessment of the video would make me think the training is lacking on many levels.”

We discovered a training course from Emergence Health Network that does not last long enough to adequately train officers before taking the lead in a mental health situation. We attempted to find out what training officers received but couldn’t find reliable answers.

THE POLICE SCARE MY EXTENDED FAMILY

When detectives visited my mother-in-law, they did not correctly identify themselves or provide contact information to her, as they should have. These detectives’ overly vagueness caused my mother-in-law and her family fear and worry.

My wife’s Bubbee is undergoing chemotherapy and doesn’t need this added stress from officers whose egos are bruised.

Even more concerning is that most police know what they can and cannot do regarding media members. In El Paso, Texas, that knowledge seems to be lacking.

Above is the voicemail the detectives left on the Jerusalem Press answering service. I called them because I was disgusted that they had contacted me. They decided to question others rather than contact the newspaper directly.

When I spoke to them, and you can hear that call below, they wanted to ask questions they knew no media member would answer.

WHY THIS EVEN MATTERS

Many would say this doesn’t matter; it doesn’t reach the newsworthy level. We disagree.

As the residents of El Paso, Texas, have seen, several officers have been arrested since last year. There are officers arrested for official oppression, another officer for allegedly stealing money from a car, and others for other alleged crimes. This is creating a lack of trust and amplifying the lack of transparency.

Before we released the video, we attempted to contact the PIO (Public Information Officer). We were transferred to a female detective and began to explain what story we were working on. Rather than speak to us, which is standard procedure for us before sending an email, we were dismissed.

 The media will usually email the PIOs at [email protected]. In this case, the lady we spoke to decided we didn’t deserve their attention and directed us to write a general email address – [email protected].

When a police department, the people we trust to protect us, refuses to engage with us, we suddenly find ourselves in a situation akin to the Spanish Inquisition. In this case, it’s not “convert or die.” Today’s Inquisition is “agree with us, or you’re against us.” That is reason enough to worry.