San Marcos City Council receives presentation from SMPD Use of Force Committee

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

SAN MARCOS — On Tuesday, July 6 at 3 p.m., the San Marcos City Council met with the AdHoc Council-Appointed Use of Force Committee during a work session to receive a presentation on their proposed changes on the San Marcos Police Department’s Use of Force Policy.

The committee recommended three key areas they would change on SMPD’s Use of Force Policy. The current policy has no reference to de-escalation and lacked reference to medical aid and attention. Additionally, the committee would like it to be more transparent on when the annual use of force report would be available and how the public can access it.

Samantha Benavides, a Use of Force Committee member, voiced some of her concerns during the work session. According to Benavides, she received an email that the committee would not accommodate virtual meetings after March 11, which led to a decrease in attendance.

SMPD Chief Stan Standridge said that one of the Use of Force Committee members dropped after the officer-involved shooting on Interstate 35.

“She very clearly stated that she could not assist the police department that murdered unarmed people,” said Standridge.

Benavides also voiced opposition to SMPD officers having 48-hours or two sleep cycles before filing their Use of Force Report. Benavides suggested changing the policy to requiring an officer to file their report before the end of their shift and then adding additional information, if necessary, 48-hours later.

City Council Member Place 1, Maxfield Baker, had concerns about the conflicting accounts of if there was a virtual option to the meetings and asked Standridge directly to clarify. 

“What it sounds like is there are two versions of the story here,” said Baker. “There’s the email Miss Benavides just red to us about attendance, and there’s what you presented which, if not accurate is a lie. What is happening here? And why were members of the committee under the impression that there wasn’t a virtual option?” 

Standridge responded by saying he distinctly remembers many meetings being attended both physically and virtually and is proud of the work the committee has accomplished. 

“This policy is inclusive of de-escalation, this policy values the sanctity of all human life,” said Standridge. “Nobody has enumerated at this point. This policy is inclusive of the duty to intervene, a duty to provide medical aid. As policy requires comprehensive legal reporting provided both to the citizen and to the city council for March 1 of each year and the preceding calendar year.”

Cherif Gacis, another member, appointed to the Use of Force Committee, thought that the meeting should have been focused more on the policy changes they recommend to change.

“A lot of the discussion here was taken from the narrative of one specific committee member that hardly ever discussed or raised their hand or anything during the discussions, and we took that narrative and ran for an hour,” said Gacis. “You have a policy in front of you, which we took six months and countless hours with several lawyers and committee members looking line by line.”

Many city council members also asked the committee for more information, including attendance records, video or audio recordings of their meetings, meeting minutes and the redline document they used to show their changes.

A video of the meeting can be viewed on the San Marcos City Council website archives.