The state agency that licenses Texas police officers has begun toughening its stance toward those convicted of drunken driving, a decision officials say could jeopardize the careers of more officers who commit the crime.
Although the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education revokes the professional licenses of convicted officers for 10 years — there were more than 100 in the past five years — some have avoided that outcome by appealing their cases. State administrative judges, who hear such appeals, have at times recommended only placing officers' licenses on probation, officials said.
But in a handful of more recent cases, the commission has begun rejecting those suggestions and instead has issued "hard suspensions" for a minimum of several months, blocking officers from taking any law enforcement action during that time, according to records and interviews.
Police departments must then decide whether to place officers in clerical civilian jobs during the suspension period — or fire them for lacking a valid license, the course Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said he will take.
The trend could threaten the licenses of two Austin officers involved last year in high-profile drunken driving arrests if they are convicted.
"It has to do with the profession we are in," said Randall County Sheriff Joel W. Richardson, a commission member. "If we are going to enforce the laws, we certainly should be following them. It's something I have a pretty stiff belief about."
The commission's executive director, Tim Braaten, said this week that the group also is considering adopting a rule in which they would automatically make officers convicted of any Class A or Class B misdemeanor, including drunken driving, perjury or certain assaults, serve a 120-day hard suspension in addition to any other punishment they receive.
Commissioners said the harsher penalties, which began about three years ago, come as part of a turnover in its nine members and an increased scrutiny among those now in the group. They also said it reflects a belief that officers must be held to the highest standards and an overall greater social awareness in the dangers of drunken driving.
"We have a group that is asking a lot of questions," commission chairman and Midland County Constable Charles Hall said. "I do have a little harder attitude than most people. I've seen enough wrecks and worked enough fatality incidents."
According to information the commission has compiled, members have taken action on 143 licenses of officers convicted of alcohol-related offenses in the past five years. Most of them — all but 34 — did not appeal.
Those who fought for their license faced a variety of outcomes, records show. About 20 kept their licenses with probated suspensions, while another dozen received "hard suspensions." About 10 of those hard suspensions were dispensed from 2008 through 2011.
A drunken driving trial begins Monday in Williamson County against former Austin police officer Leonardo Quintana, who was arrested and charged with the crime last year — eight months after he fatally shot Nathaniel Sanders II.
Acevedo fired Quintana after the arrest in Leander, but an arbitrator in October reinstated him with a 15-day suspension. Quintana's lawyers successfully argued that Quintana was unfairly treated because other officers who had been charged with drunken driving were not fired.
Upon reinstatement, Acevedo fired Quintana a second time amid an assault allegation involving Quintana's former girlfriend.
A drunken driving case also is pending in Travis County against Austin officer Michael Hamilton, who was arrested and charged in December after crashing his unmarked patrol car in South Austin. Hamilton, who was assigned to the department's SWAT team, had been at a party with fellow officers before the crash. Read More
