Early law enforcement in San Antonio begins with the alguacils of the Villa de San Fernando de Bexar and progresses to the Texas Rangers, vigilantes, and City Marshals of early San Antonio. Officers are issued the Smith & Wesson M&P.40 S&W as the sidearm. Prior officers were issued the Glock 22.40 caliber pistol which had been used since the early 1990s. Prior to the Glock officers were issued.357 magnum Smith & Wesson Model 65-2 revolvers.
Organization
The San Antonio Police Department's organization includes a chief of police a command and executive staff, and the use of community crime mapping.
Controversy
Civil rights violations lawsuit
In August 2016, during a search on the street, a female officer pulled down a female citizen's shorts and underwear and pulled a tampon out of the woman's vagina, in public, right on the street in the daytime, and in front of five male officers who were watching as well any passersbys who were around. The woman sued the City of Antonio in a Federal civil rights lawsuit stating that her constitutional rights had been violated. In October 2019, the City of San Antonio agreed to pay the woman $205,000 to settle the case.
Misconduct arbitration
In July 2020, the Mayor of San Antonio, Ron Nirenberg, stated concerns about practices involving arbitrators reinstating police officers after the officers were fired by the chief of police for misconduct. Specifically, an instance of misconduct involved a San Antonio police officer that "allegedly tried to give a homeless man a sandwich filled with dog feces", another involved an officer stating to a man that he would let him free if he could win in a fistfight with the officer, and a third instance involved an officer fired in January 2019 repeatedly using "the n-word as he arrested a Black man for trespassing at a mall". The firings of these three officers by the police chief were overturned by an arbitrator, allowing them to return to police work. In response to such matters, Nirenberg stated to CNN, "We've seen too many cases where the arbitrator has overturned the chief's decision when it's as clear as day that that officer accused of misconduct should no longer be on the force. It's egregious." The officer who allegedly attempted to give a homeless man a sandwich with dog feces in it was later fired again for another alleged misconduct incident, in which it is alleged that in June 2016 the officer defecated in a women's only restroom toilet and spread "a brown, feces-like substance" on the toilet while on bike patrol. The officer's partner also allegedly defecated in the women's only toilet. In this matter, the arbitrator sided with the chief of police's firing regarding the alleged incident, and the officer was not reinstated to the force. For the time period of approximately July 2010 to July 2020, 24 cases involving police officers being fired for misconduct have been adjudicated by an independent arbitrator, and 10 officers from these 24 cases were given their jobs back.
Ranks
Below are the current ranks of the San Antonio Police Department.
