El Paso police Chief Greg Allen not commenting on officer who pointed gun at children
El Paso police Chief Greg Allen remains silent on the incident that involved an officer pointing a gun at cursing children.
El Paso police Chief Greg Allen not commenting on officer who pointed gun at children El Paso police Chief Greg Allen remains silent on the incident that involved an officer pointing a gun at cursing children. Check out this story on ElPasoTimes.com: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/crime/2018/07/10/el-paso-police-chief-not-commenting-officer-who-drew-gun-kids/772078002/
Elida S. Perez, El Paso Times Published 5:36 p.m. MT July 10, 2018
Elizabeth Flores, the mother of boys involved in a confrontation with police Thursday, on Sunday gives her account of the event outside the Seville Recreation Center at 6700 Sambrano Ave., where the incident happened.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ/EL PASO TIMES)Buy Photo
Days after an El Paso police officer drew his weapon on cursing children outside a South-Central recreation center, police Chief Greg Allen has remained silent on the incident.
"As noted Saturday the department is conducting a thorough investigation. No further comments will be provided until the investigatory proceeds conclude," Deputy City Manager Dionne Mack said in an emailed statement to the El Paso Times in response to an interview request with Allen.
More: What we know about viral video case of El Paso police officer pulling gun on children
City officials Tuesday did not say why the chief of police has not addressed the public, instead only stating that the incident "is under investigation."
"I'm pretty sure the chief's office is preparing some kind of statement," said city Rep. Henry Rivera, who is a former El Paso police officer.
Police Chief Greg Allen (Photo: El Paso Times file)
Mayor Dee Margo said the incident is under investigation and he anticipates Allen will speak publicly once the inquiry is complete.
"It's (the investigation) being expedited. They are going to go through all of that, but I was disappointed in what happened; secondly the disrespect shown authority was pretty bad," Margo said.
City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said the news conference Saturday with Mack and Police Department public information officials was held to address questions that were aligned with the chain of command.
"I need to visit with Dionne Mack and with my staff. I think we will address the issue more comprehensively once we have more information," Gonzalez said when asked if Allen would be speaking to the public.
At issue is an incident July 5 in which an officer pointed his gun at a group of children. The incident began with a trespassing call at a vacant apartment at 6719 Sambrano Ave., near the Seville Recreation Center.
The incident gained national attention after a cellphone video recording of it went viral with more than 4.8 million views on Facebook. It has been shared more than 68,000 times.
More: Court documents make no mention of El Paso police officer pulling gun on children
The video shows the officer pulling out his gun, then pointing it at the children, many of whom are yelling and cursing at the officer. The officer then returns the gun to its holster and pulls out a baton as he holds a boy on the ground.
"I thought right away there's got to be a side that they are not showing on the video itself," Rivera said. "There's always two sides to every story."
Rivera said the department has procedures on the use of force, adding that officers receive annual training.
"It depends on the situation the officer is placed in that really matters here," Rivera said. "In this case, obviously, we don't know what happened before then, so I'm not judging him because I've been in situations where I can tell you from the beginning how I handled it."
City Rep. Alexsandra Annello said the incident was disappointing and raised a lot of questions, including what sort of history the police have with incidents in the neighborhood and other allegations that arose from the officer's conduct.
"Something that stood out to me is that the police officer pulled out his gun and realized he shouldn't have done that; he put it away immediately and that is a red flag to me," Annello said. "I'm glad that he was aware of that, but then that also means he also knows he shouldn't have been doing that."
Annello said city staff alerted council members after the video of the incident went viral, but added representatives have not been given detailed information beyond that.
"It's been silence from everybody. Honestly, everybody really has been silent on this in regards to communicating with us what's been going on," Annello said. "If the police chief doesn't have the information to give out, then, you know, I understand, but it's been a few days now and its seems like this information is readily accessible."
Annello said she doesn't know why the police chief hasn't addressed the public.
"I think that the longer we wait, the less information we give, it becomes more of a reflection on the rest of the police officers and that's not fair," Annello said.
Court documents state police were responding to a report of criminal mischief involving about 12 juveniles suspected in the trespassing case.
Police officials have said that one police officer, who has served on the force for four years, has been placed on desk duty pending an internal affairs investigation.
City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, who represents the district in which the incident occurred, said in a statement that it was an unfortunate event.
"The City of El Paso's Internal Affairs unit is conducting an investigation to allow due process for the officer involved and in a manner that is conducive to order and discipline. It is important that the City adheres to the Collective Bargaining agreements for incidents involving police officers to allow for a fair and expeditious process," Hernandez said.
She also said in the statement that the Police Department has resources such as youth police academies, a mentoring program and educational material on what people should do when being pulled over for traffic stops.
"Additionally, it is clear to me that the City of El Paso and Public Safety Departments have to do a better job of engaging with the community by building trust and relationships with families," Hernandez said.
The main officer involved in the incident, according to court documents, is named Jose Rios. It is unknown whether Rios is the officer who pointed the gun during the altercation. Documents also identify C. Sandoval as the officer who responded to the criminal trespass report with Rios.
Julian Saucedo (Photo: Courtesy El Paso Police Department)
Julian Saucedo, 17, and Jacob Saucedo, 15, were arrested on suspicion of interfering with a police officer, according to their mother, Elizabeth Flores. Court documents state the two refused to follow orders given to them by the officers. Jacob Saucedo was released Sunday from the El Paso County Juvenile Detention Center, his mother said. Julian Saucedo still was jailed as of Tuesday afternoon, records show.
The confrontation escalated when a police officer allegedly choked Jacob Saucedo and forced him to the ground, according to Flores.
City officials have not said how long it will take to complete the internal affairs investigation.
Elida S. Perez may be reached at 546-6137; eperez@elpasotimes.com; @ElidaSPerezEPT on Twitter.
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