Police union accuses foes of sign theft, vandalism

The San Antonio Police Officers Association accused a group of police reform activists of theft and vandalism of signs on Tuesday in its latest push to stop a ballot initiative that, if passed, would strip the union of collective bargaining.

But union leaders later acknowledged that they had no evidence that the people they were accusing of vandalizing campaign signs were members of Fix SAPD, the group behind the Proposition B ballot

“There are a lot of organizations that are supporting the defund the police movement,” said Rory

Mcshane, a political consultant working for the police union. “It could be members of any one of those groups.”measure.

The union also accused someone in Fix SAPD of assault.

Leaders from Fix SAPD — which is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(4), a nonprofit created for social welfare purposes — pushed back. They said that no one from the organization has encouraged its employees or supporters to confront people with opposite views in an aggressive way or to steal or vandalize campaign signs.

“These attacks are baseless and ridiculous and, in my mind, a waste of time,” said Ananda Tomas, deputy director of Fix SAPD. “We have never once encouraged our supporters or members to do that. We respect everybody’s First Amendment rights.”

Fix SAPD leaders did acknowledge they had fired a paid canvasser who was accused of confronting a police union supporter in December in an aggressive manner — an incident that was apparently captured by the homeowner’s video security system.

Union leaders released two separate videos on Tuesday of people stealing “Vote No on Prop B” campaign signs. It did not release footage of the alleged assault.

“As soon as we heard about that issue, we looked over the video, we got all the evidence, and we let that person go,” Tomas said. “They are not representative of Fix SAPD and its values. We have never ever trained anyone to act that way.”

Tomas said she did not recognize anyone shown in the other videos or photos collected by the police union.

She said several Fix SAPD campaign signs have been vandalized or stolen, too.

A spokeswoman for San Antonio Police Department confirmed Tuesday that officers were investigating one case of theft of a “Vote No on Prop B” campaign sign late Monday or early Tuesday.

The department was not able to confirm whether officers were investigating any other alleged crimes involving Proposition B campaign signs.

It’s not uncommon for campaign signs to be vandalized or stolen during any election, even for U.S. president.

The reports of vandalism, theft and assault come weeks ahead of the May 1 election that will decide the fate of Proposition B. Early voting begins April 19.

Fix SAPD, which helped collect the minimum 20,000 signatures to get the proposition on the ballot, argues that too many officers accused of misconduct are able to win their jobs back through arbitration, an appeal process outlined in the city’s contract with the union.

By various estimates, about two-thirds of firings are reversed by independent arbitrators.

But opponents of the measure argue that removing the police union’s ability to negotiate with the city on pay and benefits will make it harder for the department to recruit officers — meaning fewer police on the street and slower response times.

“This is not Minneapolis, this is not Austin, this is not even Dallas,” said Alonzio Hardin, president of the Black Police Officers Coalition. “This is San Antonio. The citizens of San Antonio trust and support the police.”

Tomas said Fix SAPD does not support the idea of defunding the police.

She said officers would still be able to negotiate pay and benefits if Proposition B passes, at which point San Antonio could change to a meet-and-confer system.

Under meet and confer, negotiations would essentially function in the same way. The major difference is that under collective bargaining, city management is required to bargain with the union. Under meet and confer, it’s optional.

“This contract has stood as a barrier to accountability for decades,” Tomas said. “This is a necessity to get the kind of contract we deserve, where the community has a voice in the contract.”