An Austin Police Department internal affairs officer was indefinitely suspended Thursday after writing an email that an independent investigation said showed bias in the inquiry into Nathaniel Sanders’ shooting.
"Lenny Quintana has an asterisk by his name that will follow him through his life because of one investigator," APD Chief Art Acevedo said.
Chief Acevedo said in a news conference Thursday afternoon that investigator is former APD Internal Affairs Detective Chris Dunn.
In an e-mail addressed to other internal affairs officers, Dunn suggests officers use Nathaniel Sanders' criminal history to help clear Officer Leonardo Quintana.
Austin Police Association president Wayne Vincent said Dunn will file an appeal of his termination on Friday.
A report released in early October by Keypoint Solutions, which was hired by the city, found "significant problems" with the internal affairs investigation and "bias in favor of the officers involved."
The report highlighted an email written by Dunn to other internal affairs investigators, dated May 13 – two days after Officer Leonardo Quintana shot and killed Sanders in Central East Austin.
KVUE was able to see a copy of the email on Thursday:
"Let’s get Sanders' probationary records. Also check for records on others. See if he/they were in compliance and what conditions were. If he/they violated curfew and/or carrying a gun/using/carrying drugs we can make him/them a causation of the entire event… GUEZZ I am so smart I scare myself."
A police memo released Thursday shows Dunn suggested internal affairs officers handling the case not ask specific questions of Quintana because they didn't want to give any "ammo."
Acevedo found Dunn's behavior a fire-able offense.
"I am not going to play Russian roulette with the public in terms of having an officer who is pretty infamous right about now be witness to a critical investigation," Acevedo said.
“The contention is that by his questions of the suspects' backgrounds that he was being biased,” Vincent said. “In some respects looking at the background of some suspects is legitimate in investigations. I think it's just the tone he wrote the email, the comments he made at the end. It was kind of embarrassing, but certainly not to the level of firing a person.”
Quintana was cleared of wrongdoing by a Travis County grand jury, and on Wednesday, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo announced disciplinary action against Quintana – 15 days suspension for failing to activate the dashboard camera in his patrol car.
Vincent told KVUE News APD is making Dunn a scapegoat for investigation. He said Dunn has taken full responsibility for the email and understands the embarrassment it has caused.
“We were shocked by the severity of the punishment. There's no question that it was an embarrassing email; it was inappropriate, but the punishment to fire an officer in our view goes beyond punishment. It makes this officer a scapegoat for all of the things that happened during this investigation,” Vincent said.
In response to all of this, Acevedo has appointed new internal affairs leadership and more leadership. He will also ask the city council to promote IA detectives to sergeants so there is more credibility.
Dunn has been with APD since 1997.
homegrown said on November 5, 2009 at 6:26 PM
How dare the police wanting to show Sanders for the person he really was. I wonder if the family of this POS gets together with the lawyers to discuss what tatics they are going to use. And of course, let's not forget the meetings with the naacp and the new black panther parties too. It's okay for the last groups to get together for their side but nobody else is allowed to have the same type of meetings for the best outcome for the hard-working citizens of Austin. Get real.
on_2wheels said on November 5, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Dunn should have been demoted and given a lot of time off, just don't think it was a firing offense.
eddie75 said on November 5, 2009 at 10:55 PM
This is a disgrace no matter which angle you come from. My question is this, Why in the Hell didn't they call for more backup, assuming that these were such dangerous felons? What immediate danger were they presenting that required this action? They were sleeping? Why didn't the Officers take cover, order them out of the vehicle by using the loud speaker, and shower the car with spot-lights and gun coverage from every possible angle? Had they, the situation WOULD NOT have transpired the way that it did. Instead, you have a Cowboy/Murderer* who instigates and makes the entire situation worse by using stupid policing tactics. The punishment...15- days for leaving his camera off but a He's a Good Guy Award so that he can live with himself. Police work is a hard enough job without people like this making it worse. Officer Quintana* is a lousy cop. Dunn is a fall guy and deserves what he gets for his actions but the real story here is that *Lenny* is getting away with *murder*.
hillary4u said on November 6, 2009 at 8:57 AM
DITTO 20 TIMES to what eddie75 said. I couldn't have said it better myself. I agree I agree I agree!
policia said on November 6, 2009 at 5:00 PM
then they wonder why apd recruitment is down. if all you have is a bunch of yes men and incompetents and officers afraid to do their job...then you have out of control crime areas such as what happened. some body needs to have to internal fortitude to make a stand instead of politics as usual. i wonder if our forefathers would of got anywhere with tyranny if the polls showed they were going to lose or some sub group of society was offended.
blastoff said on November 7, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Ditto for what policia said! Pretty soon the liberals in this town will want the cops to wear an uniform with cameras all over their body. Even when they stop for a bathroom break. Hey you idiots: as the old saying goes if you cannot do the time then don't do the crime. It is time to take our city back from all of the thugs and street bums. Oh by the way; what does the new mayor have to say? He must not play the political war but stay behind the scenes so he cannot be accountable for his actions just like his stint on the capmetro board.