“There are officers, like Miguel [Pacheco], who feel and act like the rules don’t apply to them,” says a Lieutenant familiar with Pacheco. “He is a problem child for the department.”
Chief Peter Pacillas is ignoring problems within the department. According to one Lieutenant, some officers are problem children. There is a lack of transparency and accountability. But it can change.
It’s not as if I seek to target the El Paso Police Department. EPPD has become a target-rich environment due to its actions or inaction.
I’m also not anti-police, as some have indicated. We’re doing what the Chief of Police should be doing: listening and attempting to effect change that will better serve the honest, hardworking officers of the El Paso Police Department.
Just what is the problem I am alluding to? Body-worn cameras.
Tactical Sergeant Miguel Pacheco was working traffic for a high school homecoming parade on 26 September 2024 at about 1900 hrs. An altercation occurred during this parade and in his field of view, and he failed to step in to stop the incident. He also violated El Paso Police Department Policy and Procedure by not activating his body-worn camera.
He also improperly failed to carry out a full investigation of the incident, something the Department not only accused him of in the past but also found him guilty of.
On September 26th, the Undersigned was working a traffic assignment at the intersection of Betel and Warwick during the Del Valle H.S. Homecoming Parade when the victim approached the Undersigned and said that another woman had just assaulted her. The Undersigned found the alleged offender, and she cooperated with the initial investigation. However, there were no independent witnesses to the alleged assault. Both the victim and the offender provided conflicting stories about the incident. Both the victim and offender were issued an incident information card and were advised of the follow-up procedures.
Sgt. M. Pacheco #2220
Central Regional Command Center
Tactical Section
“I did witness the fight,” says Maria Gonzalez, an El Paso resident who saw an article I previously wrote about the incident. “I don’t know why he said in your report that there were no witnesses. He didn’t even want to talk to us.”
Had Pacheco activated his body-worn camera, there would be a record of the incident, the investigation, and a witness attempting to speak with him.
Wait, let’s go back just a bit; if Pacheco was wearing his body-worn camera, as mandated by the Texas State Occupational Code and El Paso Police Department Department Policy and Procedure, there would be a record of the incident, the investigation, and a witness attempting to speak with him.
In the above photo, provided to Southwest News Today, you can see that his departmental-issued body-worn camera is absent.
Texas police officers must wear body-worn cameras (BWCs) in certain situations, but they have discretion over when to activate them:
- Mandatory: Officers must wear their BWCs during investigations.*
- Discretionary: Officers can choose not to activate their BWCs during non-confrontational encounters, such as interviews with witnesses or victims. However, they must note the reason for not activating the camera in their incident report.
- Situational: Officers should turn on their BWCs when they observe suspicious or criminal behavior, respond to calls for service, or make officer-initiated contacts. This includes arrests, field contacts, and traffic stops. Officers should also turn on their BWCs during prisoner or witness transports.
- Incidental contacts: Officers can choose to record or not record incidental citizen contacts. However, officers must begin recording if the encounter becomes confrontational or reasonable suspicion or probable cause arises.
*While Pacheco was investigating an alleged assault, his body-worn camera was to be activated.
We sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the El Paso Police Department for the camera footage from that investigation. What we received only confirmed that Pacheco was not wearing his camera that day and did not activate it.
The El Paso Police Department responded: “Please be advised that I have been informed that there are no responsive documents pertaining to your request. As no responsive documents have been located, there is no charge associated with this response and your request is now considered closed.”
When Peter Pacillas took over as Chief of the El Paso Police Department, he said he would champion transparency. However, what he has done and given the citizens of El Paso is enhanced secrecy and a higher wall along that thin blue line.
“What we have in the department,” says a Lieutenant who asked we not reveal his name for fear of retaliation, “is low morale, a chief who doesn’t care, and command staff that just won’t hear us.”
“You got a chief thinking a desk pop is okay and could have killed someone, and she’s still on the job,” says another officer working out of the Westside Regional Command Center. “You have an LT that spent over two hours in a shift meeting telling us about his money, investments, and other garbage, and no one seems to care. It’s again becoming the El Paso of the 80’s and early 90’s.”
Throughout the 1980s and part of the 1990s, El Paso had a high crime rate and a police department that was powerless to make any headway in clearing cases.
Just what is going on within certain ranks of the El Paso Police Department?
“There are officers, like Miguel [Pacheco], who feel and act like the rules don’t apply to them,” says another Lieutenant familiar with Pacheco. “He is a problem child for the department.”
Even cilivians have issues with Pacheco.
“He [Pacheco] was one of the officers who came when I had a gun pulled on me,” says Robert Maxwell of El Paso. “The officers and him, they didn’t want to do anything. It’s like they have a job, but that job is to get a check and go home without getting their hands dirty.
Chief Peter Pacillas is ignoring problems within the department.
According to one Lieutenant, some officers are problem children. There is a lack of transparency and accountability. But it can change.
This is an opportunity for Chief Pacillas to ensure his legacy as Police Chief. He can listen to the officers on the street, hear the issues they long for him to address, and correct them. He could be remembered as the Chief who fixed a broken department or be counted as part of the problem.
Why not embrace transparency? Why not reprimand officers who fail to follow departmental policy, such as not wearing body-worn cameras? Why not be a force for change and progress?
Pacillas, the ball is in your court.
What follows is Pacheco’s Internal Affairs disciplinary record and the El Paso Police Department Policy and Procedures manual concerning body-worn cameras.
