In On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City, Sociology Professor Alice Goffman recounts
In interviews, Warrant Unit officers explained to me this violence represents official (if unpublicized) policy, rather than a few cops taking things too far. The Philadelphia police I interviewed have a liberal understanding of what constitutes reasonable force, and a number of officers told me that they have orders from their captains that any person who so much as touches a cop “better be going to the hospital.
Do El Paso police have a similar policy? Does that explain this:
Two hours after [Officer Jose] Flores’ first contact with Saenz, Saenz was taken to the jail. According to the report, upon arriving there, Saenz lunged at a jail door and hit his head, causing “profuse bleeding,” and fell to his knees. Flores didn’t immediately seek medical attention for Saenz, the report states, and instead dragged Saenz to the jail basement for booking.
Given Officer Flores’ reputation for lying (for which he was ultimately fired), I am not inclined to accept that Mr. Saenz lunged into a cell door of his own accord. And if, in fact, Officer Flores had abused the handcuffed prisoner, that may account for the handcuffed prisoner’s uncooperative attitude in the minutes before he was shot by Officer Flores in the sallyport of the County Jail.
Of course, this is all irresponsible speculation at this point, but it may mirror the storyline the attorneys for the family of Mr. Saenz may advance in their multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City, and it may explain District Attorney Jaime Esparza’s reluctance to secure an indictment of Officer Flores.