The San Antonio Police Officers Association is calling on Mayor Nirenberg to place Chief William McManus on Administrative Leave, while an investigation is underway into his decision at a human smuggling arrest last month to release the 12 illegal immigrants who were being smuggled, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"It is my duty to call to action," SAPOA President Detective Mike Helle said in the letter to the Mayor and City Council, provided to 1200 WOAI news by a member of Council. "Never in my 28 year tenure working for the San Antonio Police Department have we witnessed such actions, taken by a Chief as were done on December 23, 2017, that have attracted so much media attention."
When a Houston man was pulled over off I-35 near Splashtown, illegal immigrants were found in his truck. Helle says 'our Chief of Police, unrequested,' showed up at the scene, waved off the Homeland Security Officers who had been called, and ordered the 12 immigrants who were still on the scene taken to the Police Headquarters, and then turned over to Catholic Charities, which released them.
Helle suggested in his letter that McManus may have confused the crimes of 'Human Trafficking' and Human Smuggling,' when he repeatedly referred to the 12 illegal immigrants as 'victims.'
"Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation of a person for labor or sex through use of force, and amounts to involuntary servitude, peonage, or slavery," Helle said, quoting the state law that McManus claimed to be following. "Human Smuggling is defined as the importation of people into the United States involving deliberate evasion of immigration laws. The terms are not interchangeable."
Experts say people involved in human trafficking are victims, but people involved in human smuggling are part of the criminal conspiracy, because they paid to be smuggled and, unlike the trafficking victims, voluntarily placed themselves in that position.
Helle say, at the very least, McManus violated SAPD policy, and pointed out that the City of San Antonio has an entire page dedicated to 'explaining and understanding the crimes.'
Helle blasted McManus for not allowing the federal agencies with jurisdiction handle the case, and pointed out that allowing the immigrants to go free 'may have completely forfeited any prosecution of the actor.'
He also says the 12 were released without any effort being made to properly identify them, and determine whether they were simply illegal immigrants, or whether they were criminals or even terrorists.
Helle says McManus has disciplined and even fired SAPD officers for lesser violations.
"Our outcry to you is to place him on Administrative leave pending the full investigation of a State of Federal agency best equipped in understanding the complexities of this situation and to investigate if any State or Federal laws have been violated, in addition to the obvious violations of the general manual. This action would eliminate any appearance of special treatment or the fear of possible retaliation."
But the Chief has strong backers at City Hall. South side Councilman Rey Saldana, who represents the area where 10 illegal immigrants died last summer, released a statement backing the chief:
“I fully support Chief McManus’ process and protocol in handling incidents of human smuggling and trafficking as witnessed in the event involving a tractor-trailer found in the east side of San Antonio last month. After a similar incident in my district this July that claimed the lives of 10 migrants, SAPD protocols were enhanced to not only engage law enforcement agencies to enforce local, state and federal laws, but also to ensure SAPD notifies agencies to care for the health, rights and dignity of those individuals involved in these dangerous circumstances. These procedures have long been spelled out in previous federal grants, and comport with best practices in dealing with victims and witnesses of crimes.
READ the letter: http://sapoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/ALHuman-SmugglingMH12232017.pdf