Dogged by past, officer hopes to prove himself

By Anita Miller News Editor

— A San Marcos Police officer already notorious when he was indefinitely suspended last October is back on the force.

But Paul Stephens, who came into the public eye after an August 2008 traffic stop during which a dog died, won’t be making any more stops anytime soon.

Instead of patrol, he’s been assigned to Crime Stoppers, San Marcos Chief of Police Howard Williams said on Wednesday. Stephens returned to duty June 28.

“We put him in place of an officer that’s going to be out for a little bit. When that officer comes back we’ll have to find some other place to put him. I’m not exactly sure what that will be now, but we will come up with something,” Williams said.

Williams suspended Stephens without pay on Oct. 2 of last year. Out of three available options — the civil service commission, district court or an independent arbitrator — Stephens chose the latter.

A two-day hearing was held in March with Richard R. Brann of the American Arbitrator’s Association.

According to Brann’s report, after hearing witnesses, watching video tapes and hearing audio tapes of interviews, he ruled that a charge of unlawful use of force “has not been substantiated by a preponderance of credible evidence.”

Regarding a charge that Stephens was insubordinate for violating a “do not discuss” order barring him from revealing details of the investigation, Brann ruled that Stephen’s mention of his situation to other officers, though a “technical violation,” should not have resulted in his termination.

The charges came in the wake of a disturbance call outside Dillinger’s in downtown San Marcos during which Stephens pushed an unidentified woman with his baton. In his letter to Stephens, Williams wrote, “This use of force was not necessary to prevent injury to any person, and thus, was not in compliance with policy.”

Williams said it’s “pretty common” for arbitrators to find a “compromise” solution.

“Arbitrators are pretty well known for trying to find solutions that are compromise solutions,” he said, explaining how they are chosen.

“They send a list of seven names. The officer strikes one, then the city strikes one until they are left with one name. If an arbitrator gets a reputation of always ruling for the city or always ruling for the officer they tend to get stuck. So they have a real tendency to look for a compromise that puts them in the middle.”

Included in William’s 2009 letter to Stephens was a statement by District Attorney Sherri Tibbe that Stephens would be “of little use as a witness in any prosecution.” Williams said Stephens knows he has a lot of trust to rebuild, both in and outside the department.

“I just had him in my office and we were talking about that,” Williams said.  “He needs to re-earn trust within the department. He even admitted that he realized he had to rebuild his reliability and he’ll have to work on it. I know it, he knows it and I think everybody in the department knows it.”

More specifically, Williams said he thinks Stephens came back to work at the SMPD because “he’s got to prove himself, he’s got to make it up. He was making that very point, that he had something to prove. I can respect that.”

When Williams suspended Stephens, it was the third disciplinary action against the officer in 14 months.

The first was by far the most well publicized. It occurred Aug. 13, 2008 soon after midnight, when Stephens pulled over Michael Gonzales and Krystal Hernandez for speeding on IH-35.

The couple were en route to an all-night veterinary clinic in New Braunfels because their teacup poodle, Missy, was having problems breathing. The dog was dead by the time the 19-minute traffic stop ended. On in-camera videos, Stephens can be clearly heard telling the young couple it was “just a dog” and that they could “get another.”

Williams maintained the officer had made “rookie mistakes.” He was given a written reprimand for “conduct prejudicial to good order.”

The case garnered national media attention and went near-viral on the Internet. After calls for Stephens to be fired, Mayor Susan Narvaiz held a news conference to say no one would be fired, and she considered actions against Stephens sufficient.

She also made note of death threats against the officer, who is a veteran of the war in Iraq.

A little more than two months later, Stephens was suspended for two days for violating the department’s honesty policy. Williams said then that Stephens told Commander Terry Nichols he missed an appearance in court because he had been in Dallas due to a death in the family. In fact, there was no death, and Stephens missed court because he overslept.

 

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